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000: Acknowledgments: A book like this cannot come into existence without very specialsets of circumstances connecting two individuals, and the platforms onwhich these ideas first began to emerge include the following web sitesFrequency23.net and the now-defunct Loudwire blogging network. Wewould like to thank Ray Carney for the illustrations that appearthroughout the book, as well as the cover image from a painting entitledGroup Mind Synergy. Other noteworthy individuals whose ideas helped us completesome of our thoughts: Ben Mack, Dr. Hyatt, and Robert Anton Wilson,for enhancing speech (twisp), keeping it real (metapuke) and challengingaccepted reality tunnels (fnord). We also thank Don Eglinski for thelayout, Taylor Ellwood for brilliant ideas and the forward that introducesthe text and Joseph Matheny for making sense of it with the introductionand support along the way. As well as Danny Rafatpanah, Nick Pell, andKlint Finley who organized the Esozone Designer Reality Expo wherethe Authors met each other in person for the first time nearly ten yearsafter they began the conversation under different names. Special thanks to James Curcio, Jonathan Blake and AngelinaFabbro, the whole of the Irreality.net syndicate, and Technoccult.com +hatch23.com, as well as the Toxic bloging site, maintained by the alwayselusive Chris Titan and the TG3D site that was run by Brian Hydomako;a special tip of the hat to Michael Szul of Key64.net and BrendenSimpson at Brenico.com, and in particular the mad genius Ikipr atAleph9.com. 10

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Edward would like to thank Delanys Coffee on Denman forgiving him space-time to write. His parents for starting his evolution;Louisa Hadley for keeping him alive over the process; Christina Bock fordiscussing the bulk of this book with him before he knew that was whathe was doing. Wes thanks Gabe, Bo, Winon, Angela, August, Joy, Paul, Jay,and Amber for listening to the rants and supporting the ideas before theywere fully formed, and his family for the support. He especially thanksDon, David, Ty, and Kitty for helping with the logomancy. BothAuthors would like to thank the makers of Rockstar Energy Drink. If wecould sleep properly we wouldnt have finished the book. And to everyone else that we havent managed to mention if youthink we care and appreciate your help we do and if you think we dontyou are wrong. 11

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00: Foreword The book you hold in your hands is a book wherethe authors have chosen to push forward, to experiment, tobe innovative, and not settle for the answers or techniquesof others. It is a book that is much needed in the occultcommunity because it shows other magicians how to takememetics, semiotics, writing, and other related pursuitsand adapt them to magical practices, while also pushingthose magical practices into new directions. Magic is nolonger restricted to ceremonial tools and garb. Magic issomething more. Magic, in this book, is about taking thecultural forces around us and using them to shape reality. That’s pretty powerful. In fact, it’s a recognition thatif magic is to continue to evolve; it has to evolve with thetechnology of the time, while also using that technology inways that most people will probably never think of. Themagician is a person who fits into any time, any space, anddoes so by choosing to take on the available tools and 12

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cultural mindsets and use them to achieve what s/hedesires. What’s really important though is that Wes andEdward recognize that the stories we tell about ourselveshave magic, and all we need are the right tools to let thatmagic come forth and manifest into our lives. We canchoose to tell our stories, or we can choose to manifestthem. We can choose to create and work with characterswho can help us achieve our goals, or we can continue tobe at the mercy of other people’s memes. I prefer aproactive approach and that is exactly what Wes andEdward are offering in this book. Taking a proactive approach to magic necessarilyinvolves experimentation and innovation and you will finda lot of that in this book. Take your time, try out what theauthors suggest, and let it soak into you. Let the memeticwizardry they create show you the potential at yourfingertips, as well as continue to pave a path toward thefuture of magical practice. On a personal note, I’ll admit to being very pleasedto see how Wes and Edward have taken some of my owntheories and practices and derived their own variationsand concepts from that work. It’s an inspiration for me to 13

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keep experimenting and learning and creating. It providesme further incentive because it shows me other people areon a similar path to my own. That’s something which isreally needed, because we are entering into new territorywhen it comes to magical practice. Having people tojourney with, to share ideas with, and to experimentwith when you are in uncharted territory, makes what youdo a bit less daunting, and also makes for some veryintriguing discussions, as I discovered at Esozone when Iwas able to chat with both Edward and Wes for the firsttime in person. I still have hopes of getting some moretime with them at some point, because there is so much Iwant to ask! That’s always the way of the experimenter.When you find others doing similar work, you suddenlyfeel as if a whole new horizon had appeared. Or at least,that’s how I feel after talking with both of them andreading their work. I hope their work will be as inspiring to you as it hasbeen for me, and that it will fire within some of you adesire to write your own stories, develop your ownpractices, and share them with other magicians, and fellowtravelers. We need all the innovation we can get, especiallygiven the times we live in. This book is another step in theright direction for magical practice. It challenges us toevolve and grow and stop settling for less. 14

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With that said, it’s time for me to depart and let Wesand Edward take the stage. Happy reading and happyadventuring to all of you! Taylor Ellwood Portland, OR January 2008 15

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0:Introduction The last 15 years have been a most formative timefor magick. We have seen the rise and assimilation of“technoshamanism”, we have seen cyber-guerrilla andculture jamming tactics co-opted and “rebranded” as viralmarketing. Seth Godin has replaced Joey Skaggs. Is any ofthis bad news? No. I quote the poet Diane DiPrima, whoanswered a similar question I posed to her in 1992 *: JM: It seems to me that rebellion itself has become a commodity, the media has co opted rebellions like rock-n-roll, Dada, Surrealism, poetry, the rebel figure. Do you feel that this co option has succeeded in making rebellion somewhat ineffectual? 16

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DD: No. What your seeing is an old problem in thearts. Everything is always co opted, and as soon aspossible. As Cocteau used to talk about, you have tobe a kind of acrobat or a tightrope walker. Stay 3jumps ahead of what they can figure out aboutwhat your doing, so by the time the media figuresout that your writing, say, women and wolves,your on to finishing your Alchemical poems orsomething. Its not just a point of view of rebellionor outdoing them, or anything like that. Its more apoint of view of how long can you stay with onething. Where do you want to go? You dont want todo anything you already know or that youvealready figured out. So it comes naturally to theartist to keep making those jumps, that is ,if theydont fall into the old"jeez, I still dont own amicrowave" programs.JM: Do you feel that theres a somewhatcentralized or conscious attempt to defuse radicalart or rebellion through co option or is it just "thenature of the beast", so to speak.DD: I think it goes back and forth. There are timeswhen its conscious, but not a single hierarchicalconspiracy but rather a hydra headed conspiracy.Then there are other times that it doesnt need to be 17

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conscious anymore, because that s the mold, that pattern has been set, so everyone goes right on doing things that way. Im not quite sure which point were at right now in history. Its so transitional and crazy that I wouldnt hazard a guess. Just check your COINTELPRO history to see an example of a conscious conspiracy to stop us. Other times it was just a repetition of what has gone on before. Like the ants going back to where the garbage used to be. (laughs) I couldnt agree more. Back in the day, when I firststarted disseminating the Incunabula Papers via xerox,BBS, Gopher, FTP and eventually Web, eBook, print andaudiobook* I was part of a new culture of on-line tricksters,mages, clowns, and poets, known collectively as “culturejammers” (Mark Derys claim to ownership of the term notwithstanding). 10 years later, I was being contacted byrepresentatives of corporate brands to do that thing fortheir products. Eventually, someone dubbed that thing asviral marketing, which was to morph in a few directions,one of which was Alternate Reality Gaming and a myriadof other services and methods of hawking wares. I giveyou this thumbnail look at the history of on-line memetennis for a reason. For a few years, I actually resistedusing the power of that thing to push commercialproducts and quite honestly, I still get a mild case of willieswhen I think about it (accusations of mind control 18

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techniques and black ops notwithstanding), howeverlately, I think Im more in Dianes camp. Time to get on tothe next thing. The book you hold in your hands representsthe budding first wave of the thousand flowers that areabout to bloom. Wes and Edward go to the next phase ofwhat I was hacking at with the equivalent of a stone axewhen I was working on primitive experiments like theMetaMachine* (circa 1997), in which I attempted to divinethe alchemical essences of the cyber-noosphere usingcyborganics. Moving far ahead of such Rube Goldberg attempts,Wes and Edward have drawn up a capable roadmap whichleads...where? The good news is, they dont know anymorethan you or I do. The even better news is, they dontpretend to know. Most people hammer your mind withThesis>Antithesis>Synthesis or as my my old friend thelate Robert Anton Wilson said: “Heres what is is, hereswhat it isnt, now heres why you need to go tell everyonehow smart I am.” I cant tell you how much that tired oldformula skeeves me. When I do see people brave enough to(god forbid!) put the onus of drawing a conclusion back onthe reader (heresy!), I am not only relived (what, me haveto think?) my faith in humanity has its execution stayedanother day. When the late Dr. Hyatt asked me for a pull quotefor The Psychopath Bible I chose to say: “Do not take 19

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anything in this book literally! Wait, on second thought,take it all literally!” to which many people said, “hah-hah”or “typical Matheny” but I actually put a lot of thought intothat recommendation and came to the conclusion that itwas the most accurate advice I could give someone whowas about to read that book. Now I am faced with a similarconundrum. What to say? How many pages could I go onabout what youre about to read? In the end, why should I?(word count quotas not withstanding). I think we live in atime where we often use too many words to say too little.This is why my old friend Hakim Bey said, in the TAZTapes, “Sometimes in bookstores I experience moments ofnausea when I think about adding one more word to allthat fucking print.*” Therefore- Reductio ad absurdum . Iam left with this:Open your mind. Try not to know too much. Readthis book. Beyond that, what you do with the knowledge,tactics, world views and revelations that it will inevitablyopen up, is, as it has always been, up to you. The clock isticking. What are you going to do with the time? Joseph Matheny 04-01-08 Munich, Germany 20

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1Evaluating Tools:Memetics, the study of cultural evolution, can be used tohelp us better understand our lives and achieve ourdesires. Magic, memes, masterminds, egregores, andcybernetics are all discussed in this text. Before we getmuch deeper in, let’s establish what these terms mean tous, and why we wrote this book.Magic is perhaps the most loaded term we use throughoutthe text, and we propose the same definition TaylorEllwood puts forth in his book Multi-Media Magic: “Magicinvolves making the improbable possible. It’s learninghow even the slightest change you make can have aradical effect on the internal system of yourpsychology/spirituality, and the external system of theenvironment and universe you live in.”1 Memes are nearlyas difficult to define, although Richard Dawkins was very1 Ellwood, Taylor, (2008) Multi-Media Magic, p.90. He comes to this definition after notone, but two chapters dealing the range of definitions that have attempted to limit andcontain the term Magic. 23

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specific in The Selfish Gene in describing them as units ofcultural inheritance.2 We note that memetics, whendiscussed in marketing circles, tends toward a kind ofmetaphysical reference point for understanding word-of-mouth effects, viral video development, alternate realitygames, and why “Got Milk?” was so wildly successful.However, it can also open up discussion in many otherareas, especially the transmission of information acrosslanguage barriers, the effects of psychological operations ingeo-political struggles, archetypal resonance in cultures,and the growth of internet piracy. While we didn’t subtitlethis book the Human Menome3, we do believe thatunderstanding the effects of memetics brings us a newperspective on understanding ourselves.The next few terms we discuss in depth are mastermind,egregore, and cybernetics. Mastermind groups, in theirpurest form, are designed as laid out in the book Thinkand Grow Rich4 by Napoleon Hill. Masterminds areleveraging a form of entity that emerges from complexwebs of consciousness that have come to be called an2 The interesting thing is that if computer viruses had been more widespread in theseventies when Richard Dawkins wrote this book, he might have used viruses and wormsas a depiction of non-biological evolution rather than coining the term ‘meme.’ See thetranscript of his speech at:http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2006/1617982.htm3 A hideous, aesthetically displeasing portmanteau we hesitated even referencing here in aparagraph.4 A public domain book. You can read the entire text for free at sacred-texts.com and theportion in question which launched tens of thousands of master mind sessions here:http://www.sacred-texts.com/nth/tgr/tgr15.htm 24

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egregore in the technical language of the magician.Properly defining the term egregore requires referencingcorporate metabolism5, genus loci, and the zeitgeist. It is ahive mind, the watcher of the group, and is a body capableof transmitting memes across networks, which brings us tocybernetics. Cybernetics deals with systems that embodygoals and networks which transmit memes include internalpsychic processes, multi- or trans-media narratives,religious, governmental, corporate, and academicinstitutions, and both local and non-local social settings.We’ve relied on using the terms above in developing thisbook to help you use these tools to achieve your own goalsacross these systems.Magic was once a much larger field of study. Over theyears most of the ideas that were once confined to magicaltheory and practice have been isolated and reformulated indifferent fields of study. Magicians are left guarding only afew nuggets of practical application that remains unique tomagic. For the most part, interaction with essencesgenerated from patterns, the manipulation of belief to altersubjective experiences, and non-local action of thoughtand will are all that remain solely under the banner ofMagick6 and even these few ideations are being carted5 Which in turn requires referencing Paco Xander Nathan’s discussion on corporatemetabolism, a powerful piece available athttp://www.tripzine.com/listing.php?id=corporate_metabolism6 We will be spelling Magick as magic for the entirety of this book. 25

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away into other disciplines. So why not just study thoseother disciplines?We feel there is still value in the study of magic; inparticular the language system that has been built updealing with subtle connections, forces, and objects of thepsyche. We believe that with grounding in the theory andexperience of causing the improbable to become possible,an individual becomes empowered to reverse-engineer thehyperreal world of post-modern discourse. We believe thatmagic is much more than sleight of hand or sleight ofmind, and know that what has been carted away into thesciences of harmonics, of chemistry, of quantum physicsstill haunts the spectral core of this abstraction labeledsorcery, magic, thaumaturgy, mojo, hoodoo... and inprecisely the same way, magic haunts sciences, both hardand soft. One doesnt need to dig far to find elements ofwizardry in neurolinguistic programming7, or marketing,or psychology. We do not react directly to the world butrather the world as it is filtered by our nervous systemshabits of punctuation. We break down the world accordingto what we expect to find, how we move indicates what isimportant to pay attention and what our word systemspoint out or hide. This is what Kenneth Burke refers to asthe terministic screen, and is very similar to what Robert7 Known to its practitioners as NLP, and referenced as such throughout the text. 26

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Anton Wilson meant when he discussed Reality Tunnels inhis work Quantum Psychology.Understand that this book is created from the viewpoint oftwo authors who have spent years examining the occultwith a critical, albeit subjective, stance. This is an attemptto bring together trends in marketing, infoprenuership,and the occult so we ourselves could best understand howand where these trends converge. We use terms frommagic such as egregore and sigil8 as a way to illustrate thedynamic forces at work within group minds, as well asapproaches to harnessing those forces to transformsystems. There are two models of memetics we are usingconcurrently; one is the seed or virus model where smallscale individual signals infect hosts and predispose them toparticular actions. This model is most useful for creatingcommunications and understanding how they spread. Thesecond is the entity model, useful for understandingpolitical and social movements. Here we look at largermemetic structures can act on the world through peoplewho hold the belief sets, as if the memetic entities wereintentional beingsBecause the shape of things can only be observed withdifficulty when one is within their midst, individuals8 Imaginal Time and the Construction of Sigils, Wes Unruh’s essay in the Appendix,describes in more detail the theory and practice of sigilization. 27

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coming to some sense of themselves from within thissuperorganism9, from the center of the zeitgeist, mustdevelop a kind of intellectually rigorous intuition10 to peelapart the symbolic structures and to prevent slippingunder the control of this hegemony, and it is this expansiveintuition which magic develops in the course of dedicatedstudy. We are a world divorced from the superstitions ofthe past, and new myths are generated by those wieldingmedia as a wand as powerful as the holly wood wands ofancient ceremonial magicians were once rumored to havebeen. The Hollywood of today is the true sacred site of theelite magician.Thanks to theresearch of the lasttwenty years, we nowhave two models ofmemetic space:Meme space as cyberspace, a virtual space that occupiesthe nodal memory of a communication network, andMeme space as long tail11, or a population of memecarriers. The memetic carriers can be graphed out basedon a long tail distribution that can have a variety ofpropagation stages layered over it. The long tail9 Bloom, Howard. (1995) The Lucifer Principle, one of the more lucid books on the shelves,delves deep into the discussion of social groups as superorganisms..10 This is, indeed, a shout-out: http://rigint.blogspot.com is an interesting example ofapophenic symbology and hyperstition at play.11 Anderson, Chris. (2006) The Long Tail. New York, NY: Hyperion. 28

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distribution graph is a comparison of the mass of memeticbodies. Meme space as cyberspace is smooth, while memespace as long tail is striated. Memes are more than alinguistic phenomenon.Language which has emerged from both science and magichas a place in defining the coming paradigm. Our relationto the invisible is structured in accordance with magicaltheory, and the technological application now of waves,harmonics, wireless networks is manifesting emergentconsciousness in precisely the ways predicted by magicaltheory. This isn’t to say that superstition is preferable totechnical knowledge. Magic has always been about theencoding of meaning, about symbolic literacy, about thecreation and even the restoration of calendars. Memeticsis a way of comprehending the ramifications of suchencoding, identifying the systems that result from rituals,and transmitting meaning into a goal-oriented complexsystem, the meme space. Understanding the memeticecosphere (see figure ofmeme) and meta-biologicalorganisms that sharememe space alongside usflesh and blood types is theresponsibility of thememeticist. 29

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The memetic ecosphere is directly analogous to theconcept of cyberspace. A virtual space is created when thenodes of a communication network have memory. While itis intermittent in time and space, it is concurrent in theimaginal time of the communication occurring.12 Anexample of a limited form of cyberspace is theteleconference13, in which numerous telephone attendeesmeet in an auditory space where everyone is privy to theconversation and the conversation itself is being recordedfor future playback.Nodal memory is a pattern that allows cyberspace to existand this concept of nodal memory holds true for humansocial networks as well. The memory of individuals is akind of nodal memory, and the interaction that individualsengage in form the connections that define the network.So in essence, there is a type of cyberspace that existsentirely on the hardware of human brains and personalsocial interactions. This cyberspace is the meme spaceand has been called the Noosphere by Pierre Teilhard14before the concept of memetics was fully fleshed out byRichard Dawkins. Once we have a conceptual space, it issimple enough to conceptualize the bodies that movewithin that space. These bodies are ideas, or memes, and12 We refer you to the appendix for more on ‘imaginal time.’13 The teleconference is also an ideal interface for a mastermind group working non-locally., especially when supplemented with file and document sharing online.14 Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1959) The Phenomena of Man 30

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their survival is dependent upon persistence in nodalmemory.Memes incline the host organism to actions that furtherthe memes survival in some manner. Sometimes theactions increase replication via communication overvarious types of networks, sometimes they increase thememes persistence in memory. Many times the actionsthe meme encourages adjust these two primary factorsindirectly. Observed actions are a kind of communication,so memes spread via performance as well as throughverbal interaction. Performing an action plants the idea ofthe performance as action in the minds of the observers.Think of this book as a capsid15 for a virus, or casing for aplant’s seed. In order to survive and spread, memes needcommunication between potential hosts and a way tointeract with the host organisms motivational system. Tocarry this idea into the text itself, it is in this book’s bestinterest as a memetic wrapper for us as authors to includethe next paragraph:Very few people make it past the first chapter of a book,just as many people never fully ingest a meme. What isbeing described herein will take the entire book to tell, and15 A capsid is the outer protein shell of a virus, responsible for protecting the internaloperating system of the virus, detecting suitable surrounding carriers for viral infection(i.e. cell walls) and for forming an opening into the suitable carriers. In memetics, thecapsid is referring to the casing of a meme, or the point of contact which enables theadoption of the meme. 31

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if you can stick with this text, bring up the discussiontopics in conversations, and follow up on the suggestedreadings, we assure you the reward will be immense16.Each section beyond the first will become easier tocomprehend, and the examples and applications of thistechnology (for memetic engineering is very much atechnology, rather than a theory) will enable you to twistreality and create your experiences. You will find you havemore energy, which will help the scope of your vision togrow. Even more important, you wont need to consciouslyrecall the entire book to benefit from having read it. Oncethese ideas are understood they will become profoundlyuseful in communication and self-empowerment.Keep in mind that not all connections are equal exchangesof memetic packets. In addition, memes that depend onspecific population and communication patterns will notencourage the change of those patterns, as the memes thatsupport these existing orders will be more common andhave more traction in general within those patterns.Memes that depend on new technological advances incommunication mediums will be more likely to encouragechanges in the social order towards supporting those newmediums. Perhaps this is why the internet has triggeredmore memes geared toward social change than older, moreestablished mediums. However, as society shifts to16 Seriously. Just wait ‘til we get to spime wrangling. 32

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integrate the internet, the memetic content online willpresumably shift to memes more supportive of this newsocial structure.If this is true, then it is convenient to presume that thesesocial change memes are dependent on innovations incommunication methods. One might then conjecture thatif there were no further changes to the communicationinfrastructure that social change memes might die outcompletely over time. Thankfully this eventuality isunlikely, as in general memes will support communicationinnovation as a way to engender greater replicationprobability. In other words, reproduction is a primarydrive for a memetic body in this conceptual nodal space.Perhaps ideology and hegemony does not require the kindof conspiracy that Karl Marx envisioned17 but rather arisesnaturally from the evolutionary behavior of memesendeavoring after their own survival.In contemporary society examining survival pressuresmeans looking at the socioeconomic system within whichpeople are embedded. Memes that make their hostunemployable have smaller potential populations, andcontravening the social mores and norms endangers thehosts survivability and reduces the memes17 Marx, K and Engles, F. in “The Ruling Class and the Ruling Ideas” in Durham, M.G.and Kellner, D.M. (2006) Media and Cultural Studies Revised Edition. 33

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communicational effectiveness18. It is detrimental tomemetic survival to promote behavior that destroys thehosts ability to maneuver in a social space. If survival fora meme is persistence in memory and replication acrossnodes, then we can look to the nodes and communicationsystems between nodes for more information about howmemes function. As long as a person holds a meme intheir memory, it is in the memes interest that the personcontinues existing in a healthy-enough way to continueretransmitting the meme to other hosts. Memetic survivalthen is dependent on the physical survival pressures on thememes host organism. Were designing the meme in thisbook to fully empower our readers because the better offthey are, the more likely the meme will spread.18 Lynch, Aaron. (1996) Thought Contagion. In this book, his analysis of Mormonismthrough the lens of memetics places emphasis on generational transmission, andhighlights these factors as evolutional pressures. 34

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2Agency in a Networked World:A book dealing with memetics would be betraying itsreaders if we as authors were to ignore the issue of agency.Agency, or free will as it is generally conceived, is not trulypossible in a world constrained by biological and memeticevolution coupled as it is with constant cyberneticfeedback. The memebearers, us flesh and blood humansacting as repositories for these abstract bodies, are neverwholly free in our actions or in control of our world andour selves. What we find then is that free will is an omegapoint from which degrees of agency and control aredivined in response to the question: To what degree doesone have control of oneself given that the individual onlyexists in relation to a system? And secondly, to whatdegree can an individual control a larger system given thatthere are other controlling factors?This book explores these two questions. The first stepsthen must be to increase our understanding of how these 35

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systems work. We must examine how we are connected tothem, what our inputs and outputs are. We need to look athow we transform or affect the signal. We need to watchthe signals move through the system and see how theytransform as they make their way back to us.A useful understanding is that there are many subsystems,or circuits, within the overall system of the world. Thereare many paths that a signal can take through thesecircuits either serially or concurrently. The reactions to ortransformations of our actions along these multiplepathways can either reinforce each other and increase theeffects of our signals or conflict and decrease the effects.The greater the scope of our understanding the greater ourability to release signals that will be reinforced by moresubsystems, and correspondingly the greater potential ouractions can have toward manifesting change on the world.(Coming up in the appendix of this book well delineatespecific ways to apply this theory.)Humans in general occupy a mesocosmic position withinfinity spiraling out from our "existence as cross-roads."We occupy neither the infinitely small worlds barelydetectable through the spyglasses of modern technologynor the astral spaces of dimensionality just barely sensedbeyond p-brane theory and arcane mathematics. 36

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Humanity exists between the neurological storms ofconsciousness and the meaty fleshy bodies that manifestour vital electrochemical fields. We communicate throughand have been conditioned by linguistic convention to lookfor agents and purposeful action in the world as a result ofthe behavior of others.19 A lot of that conditioning comesfrom highly perfected advertising techniques, andmarketing is where persuasive and coercivecommunications hone their effectiveness. “A marketer is an artist in human souls.” - Howard Bloom, The Pitch, Poker, and the Public20A simple psychological trick exists where if one is told twopieces of information separated by a but one is morelikely to remember the phrase after the but. Thetechnique then, widely used by advertisers, is to raise aweak form of the objections to their message at thebeginning and to answer with the message they intend toget across.The purpose of this move is three-fold. First, even if themarketers answer would not pass muster rationally if the19 Or rather, The Other. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other20 An interesting documentary piece on the art of the pitch., and Howard Bloom’s bookThe Lucifer Principle succinctly presents some very powerful ideas about the structure ofsociety as organism. 37

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receiver of the message were to reflect upon it, this methodof framing makes it more likely that people will accept themessage without reflection. Second, if the marketer hadnot raised and then answered the objections, people wouldlikely encounter the objections later. As a result,objections would be left as the stronger signal. Third, andmost importantly for the marketer, the marketer now getsto frame the debate in terms that bias reaction towards theoutcomes they are after.Knowing there are these kinds of framing techniquesnaturally raises the specter of agency. This idea of agency,as already noted, is an illusion. Perhaps instead look to theongoing results of the system, the structure, which peopleare embedded within. Picture a higher world of linguisticand iconographic interaction, and a lower world of latentarchetypes, trends, and social mores, with a middle worldbetween these two, influenced by and influencing theintegrity of patterns. These chains of influence can bemodeled as a cybernetic network grafted into the humanworld, between these layers of different kinds of spaces.This middle world of humanity can be described in manydifferent ways, but the result is that people are all parts inthis larger system and are also themselves made up ofparts. No one part of any cybernetic system can controlthe whole of the system, nor can it fully control itself. Theaction of every component of the system is constrained by 38

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the circuit of which it is a part. If memes exist in thecyberspace of our collective minds then we should nextlook to this hardware that runs this cyberspace.Westerners live awash in memetic content. We areexposed to a multiplicity of contradictory memes on everyfacet of our daily lives. How then do we do anything, cometo any decision regarding a course of action?Traditionally, at least, the answer to this question has beenthat we consciously decide based on the merits of aparticular instance. Sadly, this appears to be flawed. Weare largely unaware of the instruction weve received fromall of the open channels. Additionally some researchershave proven that action occurs prior to thought, that wecarry out rote responses at times a full half-second prior toour minds making a decision in the form of measurablethought energy in the brain. However, the percentage ofaffect of any given component within a cybernetic systemcan shift over time as the results of its contributions comeback to it over the successive iterations of the feedbackloop. Thanks to the Internet, elements of this feedbackloop in relation to the human experience have beenexponentially accelerated, making the world infinitelymore reactive than it has ever been historically. 39

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3Mind/Body/Bircolage:Collage is the creation of artwork through the re-arrangingof materials already present in the artists environment. Inmany ways, the body itself is made of bricolage ascholesterol and proteins arranged over time into a cohesivestructure.In the memetic ideosphere, the persona or projected self iscreated by a process of remixing the available memes, andsubcultures form around deforming, transforming, orrefusing specific aspects of their cultural memepool.Sorting and selecting from the memes available, most of uspre-consciously create a composite identity that is worn asa vehicle to navigate and negotiate social spaces. The actof selecting a self out of memes is a conceptual bricolagewhich produces a persona. From within this autonomoussphere memes breed and mutate, as the persona evolves 41

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over time within this shared space. An iterative processoccurs as well, where the results of these remixes arepassed back and forth, and as people themselves change inthe face of stimulus and stress.Stress itself is an emotional marker, and an agitator ofmemetic evolution. Things that place one under stresshave survival significance to older physiological systems sothe experiences that are paired with stress are morememorable. Bonds formed in the face of stress are moreintense.The overall conceptual system that perhaps should evolvein the face of refining this stress to encourage evolutionarytrends and the bonding effects of stress would be toenvision a tribal core that modularized various income-generating signals within a larger social body, to in factapproach the creation of tribal organs that fulfilled actionsnecessary to the larger social body as a whole.The overall conceptual system that could evolve is one thatadapts itself from the biological and evolutionary basis ofhuman behavior, connecting it with memetic replicationand entity action in terms of socioeconomic survivalpressures and microsociologicalinteraction/communication patterns. These components 42

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are the primary subsystems that determine humanpersonal and social behavior. In other words, eachsubsystem, each group organism within the social bodyneeds to be examined, but the interactions between thevarious nodes, the various organs, also needs to bemapped.Memes use communication to change things about theworld. Changing someones emotional state makesphysiological changes in their body and alters the actionsthey are likely to take. This is the purpose of sales andmodern advertising techniques. To change how you feelabout a product or company is to change the likelihood ofyour making a purchase. Very little is more stressful inmodern life than the acquisition of money. Money is acomplex signifier in contemporary western culture. Itencompasses both social patterns movement towardsdesire as well as movement away from social survivalconcerns. In tribal cultures survival and desire is linked tocommunity and expulsion is the greatest fear. Incontemporary society people are separated, while bothdesire and fear are linked to jobs by way of income. Withsuch stress attached to money, convincing someone tospend money means the communication to direct actionrequires a very strong emotional appeal. 43

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In general memes do not work on your rational mind butrather they affect your unconscious, emotionallyentangled, decision-making processes. Memetics isintrinsically socially embedded as it relies on thecommunication and social behaviors of the human species.We can construct memes for the same purpose, to affectthe structure of our experience and the experience of thosebodies to which we transmit that meme. Memetics doesnot in general affect things directly, but rather must workthrough, or on, human agents. While we are generally onlyconscious of messages that are delivered linearly via somespecific linguistic pattern, our nervous system also absorbsmessages of associational or juxtapositional natures.However, there is no reason to assume memetics requireslanguage to operate. All identity construction, in additionto being a kind of bricolage, is also existent only within asocial context. You do not have an identity without somekind of community formation against which to project thatidentity. This community space is also a theater in whichperformance and stress builds connections.To go much further, we need to understand how much ofmodern communication is post-linguistic and how thisrelates to the “propaganda of the deed21.” Moderncommunication systems like video are not constrained tolinguistic patterns per se, but can instead juxtapose action21 Early Toxic Marketing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_of_the_deed 44

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and meaning. This is post-linguistic rather than non-linguistic because the technology and behaviors necessaryto construct these communications depend on linguisticsand textuality. The propaganda of the deed is mostcommonly pictured as terrorism, but can mean anydramatic or awe-inspiring action designed ascommunication. In the past the actions only affected thosewho were physically present. If those not present wereeffected it was via a retelling or textualizing. Todaysmedia environment in which events and actions are filmed,associated with various emotional markers throughjuxtaposition and shown directly to many peoplerepeatedly has widened the impact of these types ofcommunication. It is against this backdrop of our currentcommunication structure that terrorism has gained itsmodern power and prevalence, as it is one thing to be toldthat hundreds of people have died in an event, but it isquite another thing entirely to be shown the event in all itsdrama, movement, and color.Everything that seeks change has a vector along which itsmovement can be plotted. A memetic body includes thepeople who share the meme and the objects they use inachieving the memes intention. Thus while a memeticbody, or meme bearer, has at least a metaphorical massand vector, and this body impacts the larger socialorganism by its movement and communications, it need 45

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not necessarily be a living human. As egregores are alsocapable of transmitting memes, they too are a memeticbody. The meme has an extension into time and space, andto affect its vector, its direction, one must enter into thisextension and apply some force to it. The most obviousmethod, and most widely used historically in changing amemetic vector, is to physically alter or constrain thebehavior of the meme bearing members (an example thatsprings to mind is the historical cases of heresy beingprosecuted by the Catholic Church). Another methodinvolves transmitting an engineered phage into thememetic network to devour the meme.Ray Kurzweils seminal text The Singularity is Nearincludes an extended discussion of the 7 stages oftechnological adaptation, and this model is easilyadaptable to this engineered phagic22 repurposing of anexisting structure. In biology, a phage is a cell eater, aspecific kind of virus which rewrites an organism to its ownends through injection of specific codes into the cell. Inmemetics, phagic repurposing is the mechanism of alteringbehavior by imparting coded information tailored to anexisting meme. The model Kurzweil provides is anexample of phagic repurposing of behavior in its approachto technological innovations. Viewing his steps from the22 Phage is a term taken from the study of viruses and applied here as an analogy, alongwith the term capsid earlier in the text. Phages are viruses which devour the cellularstructure, creating copies of themselves in the process 46

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aspect of those affected by innovation provides a way tounderstand this type of a memetic growth pattern.The internet adds just the right amount of disassociationthat we can see some of these processes at work. Theinternet is unique in that it allows for non-localparticipation in performativity under stress, and inparticular in that performance is disassociated frombiological sexual identifiers and can exist solely within self-identified gender roles. While this doesnt directly create adivision between mind-body, it does allow for a way toperceive a division between sex and gender. In otherwords, the only way other people know what gender youare is if you tell them directly through a profile orindirectly through your references during a dialog.Dialog is primarily stored as linguistic memory, butmemory can also be stored non-linguistically. Infants existin a pre-linguistic state, and accordingly their memoryseems to be stored in the body. That your muscles adapt toyour usage patterns by building up those muscleconfigurations that you use the most is one example ofbodily memory. Linguistic memory would need an actuallanguage rather than the potential to form language torecord memory, something Stanislav Grof calls a COEXsystem, or an associated chain of bodily memory. 47

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Another form of memory that is neither linguistic nor pre-linguistic is iconic memory. Semacode is an example of agadget-based referential that over time becomesconsciously internalized as you adapt to the signifiers, butfor now lets simply state that Semacode is an icon denselypacked with information a gadget can scan and output aspecific URL. These codes take up a little less than asquare inch of space and operate much like a three-dimensional barcode. Over time, scanning the sameSemacode and looking up the same URL will embed thatinformation into the individuals conscious mind to thepoint that they will be instantly able to recall the datareferenced by a specific Semacode, without resorting togadget and internet browser. Memory of a data set willbecome anchored to a specific visual stimulus, and iconicmemory will be associated with a linguistic experience.This division between iconic and linguistic information issimilar to the division between sex and gender. We believethat pondering these principles will generate new ways toproject both identity and meaning through technology inthe future. 48

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4Belief as a Meta-Condition: Paradigm andBrand:A significant source of error in peoples attempts tounderstand the world is inappropriately applyingmetaphors. In some ways, scientific theory is much moremutable than magical theory. When people applymetaphors appropriate to the energy economic ofNewtonian physics, metaphors appropriate for only thesimplest of physical interactions, to systems of cyberneticcomplexity, they arent being scientific. Instead, theyrebeing superstitious by way of over-simplification. Belief isdirect, subjective experience, and is described as a“knowing” or a “burning in the gut” although an intenseimprinting moment as a result of a buildup of meaning,then a catalyst to trigger the new internal state, is the mostcommon impetus towards belief. 49

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Belief then is a subjective quality based on directexperience with the absolute idea in mental space, and thisdirect experience which can never be said to becommunicated does in fact have some necessary interplaywith the rest of the social mechanism and data exchangethat occurs. Manipulating belief to a desired end has beendeveloped through chaos magic, a recent form of magicthat is heavily affected by postmodernism.You dont convince someone by pushing what you believeagainst what they believe. It is when their belief system isquestioning itself that you can lean in and offer what youwant them to do or believe as the answer to the instability.Point out contradictions inherent in their belief system andthey themselves may throw it out of balance. Get them toquestion one end of their beliefs using another end andthen offer your meme as the solution to the feelings ofdoubt.When you encounter someone they come towards youfrom a particular angle, those beliefs they already have.Start by figuring out that angle; ask questions that revealtheir world-view. Now enter their movement, agree withtheir reality. In NLP terms you are pacing them. Throwthem off balance by finding a confusion or contradiction intheir beliefs. Ask them questions that lead to furtherquestions. When they are confused about what they believe 50

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their reality is most malleable. From here you spot asolution for their confusion, what you want them to do.Ask them to imagine doing what you want and it solvingtheir confusion. Offer to let them do what you want. Letthem go on their new vector, much like the old butadjusted in your favor.Meet every situation that arises at the intensity with whichit arrives, while leveraging the situation in a favorabledirection. In aikido, irimi isnt exactly head-on but ever soslightly askew, a way to meet an attack, and was originallya term used in hand-to-hand which has expanded to thefield of conflict studies. In applying these ideas on anindividual level, you must first understand your positionwithin a larger social cluster, figure out where yourstrongest incoming signals are originating, and beginmodeling, sketching out, mind-mapping, or otherwisediagramming your position. Just being aware of yoursocial network in real life, and via virtual extensions, willprime you to see opportunities, both for yourself and forthe people you know. Actively connecting people or nodestogether to more densely mesh the network can result in apattern integrity effect which improves the quality offeedback. It is possible that the route through a networkyour information moves seems contrary to your goal butyour actions will only bring you closer to your goals if it iscompatible with the motion of the ecology of the network. 51

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The world we are embedded in is more subject to thepercentage economics of flexibility than to the additiveeconomics of energy. We look at networks of signalpropagation, where we can examine how each node altersthe signal and we can observe what percentage of thatchange remains when the signal closes a circuit byreturning to that node. Construction of feedback loops ofthe right signal intensity can achieve any socially desirableeffect for any individual node; its just a matter ofengineering.Magic has held on to the concepts that exoteric culture andscience was not prepared to accept or explain.Consequently magic consists of a hodgepodge23 ofpragmatic techniques for achieving a variety of effects,supported by little more than mythological explanationsand traditional lines of association supporting thepractices. Since the late sixties and early seventies, acurrent in occult circles manifested that we refer to asChaos Magic. One text in particular aimed to be aunification of different models into an approachable andcohesive system, and held at its most fundamentalargument the thesis that magic was leveraged throughmanipulating belief in specific ways. Certainly most23 We highly recommend the Appendices in Shea, R and Wilson, R.A. (1975) Leviathan,especially Gimel and Lamed. Sorting out the contradictory statements on magic from ahistorical perspective is a perplexing, yet enlightening task. Essentially, it all boils downto the two words, “Reinforce Often.” 52

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discussions about magic raise the pragmatist’s eyebrow.However, people who dismiss magic as a whole because ofthe explanations provided overlook the fact that we onlymake explanations if theres something there to explain.In a sense, this is why there is a growing number ofmagicians and sorcerers delving into obscure and variedsystems and sciences, recovering what was appropriatedfrom magic’s bag of tricks. Marketing, memetics, andmasterminding techniques are only the start, othermagicians are working in fields to numerous to list, magicand science have been on course for reintegration since theturn of the previous century. We seek to accelerate thisprocess by providing metaphors of complexity, flexibility,and ecology. A world of information systems is not ruledby cause and effect but rather by influence.The necessary component of a meme-signal to exposure isits attractiveness or noticeableness. If the signal issufficiently different from surrounding signals and appearsnew or fresh it will garner enough attention to give it achance at being picked up by a new node, or infected. Tocarry over from exposure to infection the meme mustaddress itself to the needs and priorities of the potentialnodal host. The needs of the host are partially influencedby its prior acceptance of previous memes from the samenodal network, which is part of the reason why we seememes clustered around each other conceptually. 53

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When working through a model of "meme as brand", itbecomes all the more important to consider the questionWhat need does the meme fulfill?" A more exact questioncould be, "What is the emotional reward of incorporatingthe meme into your behavior set?" An interesting facet ofhuman behavior is that we dont react emotionally to asituation, but rather we react to the meaning we haveattached to the given situation. Memes then work byassociating situations with emotions that the organismreacts by acting to fulfill the situation if the associationsare positive or avoid the situation if the associations arenegative. The more effective the association and the morepowerful the emotions the meme links to, the more likelypeople will act on them.A brand narrative never provides a complete experience, ora complete representation of the narrative, so it can drawin participants to the brand experience. In this sense,branding is what Marshall McLuhan24 would call a coolmedium. When branding is at its best, it represents anongoing relationship between producer and consumer. Itis a narrative of which the consumer is the star, the maincharacter. Marketers work with branding techniques tohelp consumers use the product as a part of the bricolageprocess of building their identity, and conversely the24 McLuhan, M. in “The Medium is the Message” 54

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marketer works to make the consumer more and more apart of the brands overall story. They sink the meme ofthe brand in through common emotional triggers that tellpart of the story, leaving a gap that the consumer can onlyclose by taking action. When the circuit closes the storycontinues layering in emotional triggers in response to theway that the consumer has participated.Memetics studies these signals, these memes, as they flowthrough the networked computing environment ofphysicals humans, communication systems, and socialgroups. In this way memes can be seen as computinginstructions. The hardware of this macro-computer ispeople and all of the objects, all of the tools they use tocommunicate and structure their behavior. The context inwhich these memes are presented relies on preloadedmemes, which the structure of the network in which thereceiver of the meme is embedded restricts how thememetic signal is transmitted. The last stage in thisprocess is the actual activation of the memetic content, orthe reception of the message. The signals flow in,triggering emotional reactions that pulse and surge,electrochemically stimulating the nervous system.Technical work on the human interface between thephysical and the digital is always ongoing25, but the crux of25 That which is inconceivable today is tomorrow’s product. Soon, spime wrangling willexpose to the masses a pragmatic and technical way to grasp the emergent complexproperties of memetics, as it will require a working knowledge of memetics to make senseof spimes. Check out Bruce Sterling’s Spime Watch to get a feel of where things are 55

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the theory relies on the transmitter receiving feedbackfrom the network, then adapting the next iteration of thememe in light of the analysis of the feedback, paying closeattention especially to partial feedback, as this informationwill help the conscious memetic engineer with tips on waysto alter the next signals for greater scope and fidelity. Asthe transmitter receives feedback from the nodes thatreceived the messages sent, the memes in their packaging,the receiver experiences a new surge of energy which inturn precipitates more memetic output.For the most part, we live in a world constructed bylanguage. What and how we see the world is tied directlyto how we describe it. In many ways, the fact that theEnglish language has divided the noun and the verb doesthe English speaker a great disservice. Nowhere is there anoun not participating in a process, nor a verb notembodied in physical matter. Our descriptions limit howwe move through space and the possibilities we canimagine in relation to the manipulation of objects. Thespell of noun-language has convinced us that change isdifficult, that things must remain as we have labeled them.Because of this, its important to remain doubly aware offeedback that is not based in a language set, as it willaccelerate your ability to innovatively adapt your signaloutputs into the social network.headed at the time of this book’s publication:http://blog.wired.com/sterling/spime_watch/index.html 56

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It also suggests the power of describing noun-objects asdynamic systems engaging in a process of evolutionarychange and adaptation. In human beings we call thisprocess growth or learning while in social groups, and thisis more than simply a matter of organization or politics. Ina sense, this power of naming is a social force whichrestricts individual expression. Yet another restriction onthe free will of an individual is the larger force of socialsituations.One of the best models in which to understand socialdynamics within groups is to study Timothy Leary’s earlywork. Dr. Leary addressed group dynamics with a modelcalled the interpersonal circumplex, a sort of personalitycompass, which is still used today within group therapycontexts. Developed26 in 1957 the circumplex is a circularcontinuum of personality formed from the intersection oftwo base axis. By understanding where each individualfalls on the circumplex, and relating the whole group ofindividuals to each other via this model, the outcome ofany relationship within that group can be predicted (seefigure.)26 Or at least published : Leary, T. (1957). Interpersonal diagnosis of personality 57

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This model was used primarily in developing group therapy approaches, but it can be repurposed for use in any interpersonalsituation to understand how individuals will react tovarious attitudes or orientations of others. Because thiscompass maps out relational behaviors, people movearound a lot more in Learys personality compass system;it is not a personality typing system such as Socionics orthe Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventorystructure. A person stakes their position on the compass incontradistinction to the other participants in a given socialsituation, the two dimensions being cooperation-opposition and dominance-submission. Bearing in mindthat one’s position is expressed in body language andtonality as much or more than linguistically, a skilledanalyst or leader can easily predict and restructure groupdynamics.One final note to those who object to this characterizationof memes as fundamentally tied to emotions, we would liketo direct attention to the powerful emotional chargeassociated with being "right". 58

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Exercise:There are dimensions of behavior we mostly share in common withother mammals, such as dogs. In fact, a good way to learn to see thisis to visit an off-leash dog park on a sunny weekend afternoon. Takea journal, digital camera, or audio recorder and observe socialinteractions between domestic animals, and the associated behaviorsor beliefs that the animals and their owners seem to share.Notes: 59

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5Meta-Biological Organisms:Gregory Bateson in Steps to an Ecology of Mind defines amind as the total cybernetic information system that isinvolved in an action. Combined with Deleuzesconception of body as defined not by physical extensionbut by participating together in action, this definitionpreempts the common humanistic assumption that mindis limited to the individual human agent. It is theintelligence or flexibility of the overall network that leadsto the systems results rather than the intentions of a singleindividual. This means that a person is part of manydifferent and much larger minds.These can be thought of as group minds, and have beenreferenced in contemporary magical theory as egregores27,emergent entities made up of the complex systems that27 From the latin word Grigori, defined as the watchers or the nephilim in traditionalmythology. Modern definition of egregore (or egregor) being an embodiment of aconvergence of forces that exhibit memory, intentionality, and cognition, capable ofretaining and spreading memes. 60

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compose these social bodies. The individuals are not incomplete control of this egregore because they areconstrained by the system that allows it to manifest, butthe egregore is not in complete control because its actionsare determined by the interaction of its various parts. It isa meme carrier, just like humans are, except it does notrequire a physical presence.There are three egregore types, those being religious,institutional, and corporate egregores. Religious egregoresare the most readily understood as meme carriers as it isusually the religions task to spread the egregores mindshare by any means necessary. These egregores aresymbolically represented in the archetypes of the deity ordeities of the religion, along with whatever embodiment ofevil that deity may oppose. The physical accretions of theegregore then are the temples, structures, and iconographymade manifest by and at the commission of the religionsfollowers. Often these entities have moved across differentlanguages in their spread and, correspondingly, theybecome adaptable across cultures, yet they rely onembedded mythologies and archetypes to resonate, bond,and spread in new cultural environments. 61

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Institutional egregores are more perverse, more recent,and tend to be geographically bound. The United StatesGovernment is run by egregores manifesting Uncle Samand the Goddess Columbia, when viewed from this 62

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perspective. Academic institutions generate egregorepersonifications as well, often producing them in ritualizedsettings through mascots. The marketer and thememeticist often have difficulty with these institutions,because the lifespan of these egregores significantlyoutweighs an individual’s ability to gather enoughinformation on the lifecycle of these bodies, as well asreligious egregores even longer cycles.Last of the three is the corporate egregore, the youngest ofall egregores, coming into its own in the United States in afederal court in 1886, when justices decreed corporationsto be legal persons in their own right, capable of owningproperty or being held responsible for damages. However,these are technically immortal bodies, impossible to kill orphysically punish as an entity (although a more powerfulgovernment egregore can appropriate its assets.) Thanksto the countless companies which pop in and out ofexistence, the memeticist and marketer can get a muchmore useful sampling of group minds, operating at variousefficiencies, to extrapolate actionable data that can beapplied to egregore engineering and understanding thisnew direction of human evolution.If we believe the standard myth of human evolution weevolved as tree dwellers and later evolved as savannascavengers and hunters. In order to survive these niches 63

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our ancestors had to evolve the capacities for treemovement and for tracking. They needed the muscularand neural capabilities for these actions. While we havelost some of the muscular capabilities as body shapes haveshifted, we still have the neural structures and capacitiesfor those behaviors. Farming, factory work, and life in theoffice cubical do not fully use the capabilities we haveevolved and have at our disposal.Sadly, the programming we received as children within ourculture can be difficult to change, and our bodies areadapting to the lifestyles we lead. Memes that we pickedup as children benefit from early and long-term exposureand are more deeply embedded than transformativememes we may encounter later in life, even if those latermemes are more accurate in their reflection of our truepotential. That we have evolved to the point where oursocial structure can maintain non-biological organismssuch as these egregoric types highlights the direction ourevolutionary cycle is headed, while revealing just a glimpseof the untapped potential for growth we each possess.This idea of hidden or untapped potential is somewhatrelated to the functioning of the unconscious. Theunconscious is the totality of those mental processes thatthe conscious mind is not capable of registering. Forsimplicitys sake weve taken the Freudian approach of 64

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differentiating between the conscious mind, theunconscious mind, and the preconscious mind. Theconscious mind is simply that which one is cognitivelyaware. The preconscious is the repository of memory,which can be accessed by the conscious mind with enougheffort, and the unconscious mind is that part of the selfwhich is the mental processes that under mostcircumstances remain beneath the perception of theconscious mind.For example, most of how one rides a bike remainsunconscious even during the riding process. Things likebalance, movement, braking, all of the ways the body isextended by the device become automatic, and the totalityof the experience is by and large entirely unconscious,although the conscious mind does make the initial decisionto start riding, and chooses direction, momentum, andnavigates the environment consciously.Another example of unconscious and conscious mindinteraction is in linguistic communication. How youchoose what words to say or write is unconscious, just asunconscious as remembering to breathe, or to keep theheart beating, or to digest food. But like the autonomicfunction of breathing, heart rate, and digestion, it ispossible to learn how to consciously affect mostunconscious programs like speech patterns or word 65

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choices. When we intentionally learn a skill we go throughfour phases. Unconscious incompetence, when we cant doit and arent aware of it. Conscious incompetence, whenwe know we cant do it. Conscious competence, when weknow we can do it as long as we focus on what were doing.And lastly unconscious competence, when we do it whileno longer needing to be totally conscious of how we aredoing it. Those whove learned to ride a bicycle have gonethrough these four phases in learning to becomeunconsciously competent while riding, and hopefully cansee how this applies to all intentional learning. In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the mind, there are no limits. –-Dr. John Lilly, Programming in the Human Bio- Computer28Vividly imagining actions activates the muscles and neuralconnections that the actual action requires. This imaginalrehearsal should be practiced on a regular basis inconjunction with normal visualization to focus the pre-conscious mind to support desired intentions. For now,lets talk about patterns and explain what we mean by28 http://www.futurehi.net/docs/Metaprogramming.html 66

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semiotics and semiotic codes. Semiotics is the study ofhow meaning is transmitted. A semiotic code refers to thecontainer for a message. Within the semiotic code oflanguage, abstract words are actually descriptors ofrecognized patterns. If one has already been exposed to acomplete pattern, then exposure to an incomplete patternwill cause the brain to complete the loop. If one does notknow the complete pattern, then exposure to the partialpattern will trigger an effect that Russian psychologistBluma Zeigarnik identified. The “Zeigarnik Effect” is howan incomplete pattern never fully drops into one’sunconscious but remains free-floating in the preconsciousmind.This unknown partial pattern that stimulates furtherinvestigation is what Roland Barthes termed thehermeneutic code. Both the semic and hermeneuticcodes29 work because of the brains pattern recognitioncapabilities, and the reward of feedback energy that occursonce the loop of understanding is closed. Narrative is aprimary pattern of the neurology of conscious thought. Itis a pattern of linear causative relations that is particularlycompelling once it is recognized. The semic code operatesbecause exposure to a partial pattern implies the completepattern, yet semic code is differentiated from hermeneuticcode in that semic code is that understanding deduced29 The five codes Roland Barthes describes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/Z 67

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from what is shown, and represents a continuous feedbackloop that keeps the reader, or the one encountering thecode, engaged in the cultural or subcultural discourse,which in turn aligns that individual within a larger groupstructure networked by the semiotic code in question.Most traditional magic operates at a higher logical levelthan either semic or hermeneutic code. This higher levelof code is the symbolic code, which is a pattern of patternsand hence is often translatable to a number of differentrelations. This is why the planets of astrology can bemapped to personality types, components of mind, socialbehavior, or classes of animals, plants, stones, vibrations,or colour. Rather than being single signifying signs,symbolic code is a kind of super nodal form of associationand classification. Evoking archetypal resonances with aprospective demographic30 requires these kinds ofreference points for the culture in which the messageneeds to be inserted.When we say that someone believes something, what weare saying is that they act as if that something is true. Ifthe topic related to that thing arises, they express theirbelief in the veracity of the thing. When a situationaffected by that belief arises, they take actions which areconsistent with that belief. Information regarding the30 Mark, Margaret and Pearson, Carol S. (2001) The Hero and the Outlaw 68

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belief is stored then as a pattern in their preconsciousmind, and is accessed to make sense of associatedfragments of semic code or symbolic code they encounterthat is related (or appears to be related) to that belief.What is remembered in these events is actuallyreconstructed, assembled into a unique formation for anygiven occasion. If a person encounters fragments of aconsistent whole in separate places as separate experiencesthe pattern recognizing action of the brain will most likelyidentify the consistency of the material as a series ofdiscrete parts to be assembled into a whole. Modularnarratives, relying on discontinuity to heighten theaudience’s tension, are as of this writing beginning tobecome a trend in advertising, because of the implicationsof the “Zeigarnik Effect.”With enough reference points, the whole essence of thestory will arise in the brain as something akin to boththought and memory, and may be experienced as a kind ofdeja vu or synchronicity. There was no specific storytellingepisode, but rather the meaning is absorbed passively viaenvironmental exposure. So long as a person has a part ofthe puzzle that needs completion, the "Zeigarnik Effect"will spur that person on to locate the missing pieces.3131 Alternate Reality Games and Direct Response Branding both develop and refineimplementations of the “Zeigarnik Effect” and Mark Joyner discusses it in depth in MindControl Marketing. 69

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6Becoming What You Do:In this chapter and the next, we will be dealing with waysof altering set behavioral patterns. Control over oneselfrather than allowing one’s psychological triggers to beaccessible to others is a primary concern. Things thatplace one under stress have survival significance to olderphysiological systems, which is why experiences that arepaired with stress are imprinted more strongly into thepreconscious mind. As a result, bonds formed in the faceof stress are more intense. As long as our responses tostress are fixed and predictable anyone aware of this candirect us like puppets. Yet the goal with stress isnt toeliminate it, but rather to allow you to design moreappropriate responses to stressful situations; stress, at itsmost basic form, is readily available energy caused by thesituation itself. It is important to have access to immediatereactions that are useful and necessary to a situation, 70

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rather than reactions which cripple or completely shutdown ones actions.In short, we will be showing how to break onesconditioning and discover ones truer, freer self. We are ina time of extremely rapid technological adaptation, and oldstratified experiences and ideas are antiquated often beforetheyve fully formed, preventing normalization. Change isthe normal now, often violently so. The technologicalsingularity that is described in depth by authors like EricDrexler, Eliezer Yudkowsky, and Ray Kurzweil ishappening even faster than they had predicted, as thelatest advances in quantum computing is coming in nearlytwo decades before previously anticipated. Manifestingchange for you against this backdrop has becomeastoundingly easy.Novelty has become the norm. Novelty is new experience,and that continuous newness of experience promotesgrowth in the neural network of your brain. The mindgrows with new experiences, and then by allowing time forthat experience to digest, to become a part of the nowlarger network, new ideas form and further experiencescan then take place. By the time the intentions you haveset forth begin to occur, you will have had experienceswhich have altered your understanding of what is possible.This awareness of ones pattern of growth can only arise 71

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through visualizing your experiences as they occur throughtime. Observation and optimism are necessary to changethe world, but it inevitably will continue to spin. When you figure out what you want, stop there. Write it down. Dont create a plan to reach that objective, just write down the objective. If you must draw up a plan to get there, at least give yourself a few hours to let your subconscious mind begin processing the desirebefore starting this analytical process.The hardest lesson to learn is being able to let go, relax,and anticipate transformation. Ultimately, the recognitionthat the world is already always changing is vital to actuallychanging the world in your favor. The world is a process inmotion. Some changes may not be immediately possiblebut changing the world to engineer that possibility,keeping in mind that every action you take is compoundedby time to influence the pressure you exert. The reality isthat we are advancing so quickly that we can no longerdiscern between what may or may not be possible over 72

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time. In addition, stress influences any given system’sability to function--we propose that structuring one’sinternal self and social group to function effectively duringstress is vital to long term sustainability.This isnt the secret and its not cribbed from an emeraldtablet. Its advice based on experience and creativeproblem-solving. Understanding your objective andfocusing on it, explaining it to others in your socialnetwork, and allowing that interaction to guide you willinevitably lead you to where you need to be. KurtVonnegut tells us that you are what you pretend to be, butmore accurately the phrase should be you become whatyou do. Pretending is acting as if something is true and itis that acting that is imprinted into the preconscious andunconscious mind over time.You occasionally hear about actors having trouble gettingout of character and being themselves again32 or theworkaholics becoming stereotypical manifestations of theirjobs roles over time. If what you do determines who youare then do people in a well-defined profession become insome sense the same person? Are all lawyers, for example,actually all one archetypal Lawyer? Although individualswill differ in the degree to which they embody this ideal,through the lens of memetics the answer is yes. We could32 Tom Baker of Dr. Who comes immediately to mind. 73

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distinguish between an American Lawyer, as opposed to aBritish Barrister, as the differences in roles would lead to adifferent character, generated by other aspects of theculture in which those roles are anchored. But all theindividuals are manifesting the same entity, archetype ormenome33 type.Even more issues come into play when an actor takes on anarchetypal role through method acting, and implants anaspect of that archetype into their psyche, essentiallybecoming a gateway for an egregore. Magicians in varioustraditions have collectively referred to this as aninvocation, and it can be a powerful tool in a ritual setting.Understanding the impact a role can have on an identity asthat identity moves forward through time is an essentialtool in triggering self-transformation, as well as watchingout for signs of personality seepage. Neurolinguisticprogramming is based in many ways around the concept ofmodeling a role to cause changes in behaviors, but not allchanges are desirable. Being aware of the potential of self-change before engaging in a role, and understanding thatthe longer a role is engaged in, the longer-lasting the effectof that role on ones personality is essential to effectiveself-actualization.33 Meme is to gene as menome is to genome. 74

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In our digital age, with the Internet, the past isnt as deadas it once was... in some sense its not even the past, aseverything exists in either a documented or anundocumented state. In meatspace34, however, the past isdead and gone and the future has yet to happen. Only thepresent exists in the meatspace, and the future comes intobeing based on what is happening now and what ispossible. While this metaphor is not entirely true per se, ithelps get a grasp on the different possibilities that aredependent upon which state in which you are operating.While what is possible is based on what has happened inthe past, because our present becomes the past, and thusconstrains the way our future presents we need to act inthe now to provide ourselves with a freer future bothonline and in meatspace.Freedom in this sense can be viewed not as the ability tomove independently, but to wield greater power within anetwork. As we gain greater ability to make our ownchoices we must in turn assume greater responsibility forthose choices. By examining our failings and weaknesseswith brutal honesty we can find our strengths. Knowledgeof weakness brings its own kind of developmental power, ifits used to create mastermind teams. Now is a time ofimmense potential, bombarded by more cultural signalsnow than ever before in recorded history, as those who34 The affectionate term for physical interaction that arose in context via onlinediscussions. 75

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dive in and navigate the information can see, while othersdrown if they sink into the information flow.Mastermind groups can (and should) develop techniquesto offset handicaps of individuals within the group. Byplaying to our strengths we concentrate effort intoaddressing our areas of weaknesses strategically. Knowingwhat ones weaknesses or strengths are also helps todevelop focused teams with those who can bring abilitiesto offset ones weaknesses. We have access to anoverwhelming array of information that can help us, but atthe same time the burden of evaluating this informationlies heavily upon us. We now pick and choose among thesignals that reach us, and in fact must do so because thecontradictory signals we receive create their own kinds ofstress. Understanding all the ways in which one lackscontrol over ones existence allows for compensation,starting within ones consciousness and moving into thegreater social group in which one is embedded. Each ofthese strata can be explored in terms of the networks thatmanifest within those strata (see figure). What we aresetting forth in this book arent quick fixes, rather they areworking within this model of reality to ripple out throughthe network of minds and bodies within which you areenmeshed. 76

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You process the desiresyou have to changesituations by tappinginto the latent potentialwithin your ownconsciousness to appeal to, if not directly manipulate themastermind of a group or egregore of a corporate body. Asthis is a fractal model, youll discover that there areiterations of each process. Being conscious of theseiterations, these cycles, helps you allow for correctionsalong the way to reinforce the improvements. The mostimportant factor in success is whether you were able tomake a habit of these practices and thereby to compoundthe light improvements into a large change. The moretightly networked our world becomes, the more powerful aclearly defined, easily communicated objective. 77

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What appears to be occurring is that there is now acreation of two classes, those for whom the informationglut is liberating, and those whom it controls35. But whilethe signals teaching people how to empower themselvesexist, the messages of conformity and limitation are moreplentiful and subsequently more adapted towardhegemony. For those who dive in and navigate theinformation can see the structures that manipulate it,while those who would drown if they went below thesurface remain the led. Lest this be a new iteration of the35 Like the old joke goes, theres 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understandbinary, and those who dont. 78

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old feudal forms, a renewal of feudalism, what we areseeing now is that while the ability to process informationis not universal, information of all types is rapidlybecoming ubiquitous. This ubiquity is triggeringadaptation by the children of those who cannot divebeneath the surface. All of society is changing faster thanwe are acknowledging, and in fact faster than we canactually acknowledge. William Gibson is quoted as saying"The future is here, its just not evenly distributed."We’re witnessing the shift from media consumer to mediaproducer thanks to the internet and the universal access totechnological know-how. Creative end-users, adapting tothe digital age, are producing works that cohesively buildcommunity beyond geopolitical space. Virtual space is aradicalizing area, and experiencing it has already alteredhuman society permanently. For too long the meme spacehas been only flowing in one direction, it has remained thetool of the few to broadcast to the many. Now, tools suchas blogs, podcasts, and video are allowing individuals toredress the unbalance between their media intake andoutput. The character of the discourse changes as well, toreflect the concerns of these individuals rather than thoseof the corporate-owned media conglomerates.Additionally, the internet is providing people with the toolsfor more effectively filtering what media they take in. 79

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Search engines and rss feeds and keyword tags areallowing people to streamline their access to the most up-to-date information in their fields of interest, and peer filesharing as well as media piracy is all a part of this trend. Itis also unstoppable, and it is reworking the way that thefree market works36. The old institutional marketing ideaof "if youre not everywhere, youre nowhere" has become areality in this new information ecology.We are embedded in a sea of memetic content, this contentis determined now by the collective pool of individualsmore now than ever before, and people have more controlover what memes they are exposed to as a result. This alsomeans that people can cocoon themselves in media thatconfirms their pre-existing biases, and this is where fractalnotions of self-similarity in memetic construction cansmuggle across new energy; mimic an outer layer andcreate an entrainment by properly encoded semantic valueand any stagnate memetic ecology will rapidly mutate. Todo this properly takes both skill and experience, yet thanksto the interconnected nature of daily life, we all now haverelatively equal potential to initiate such a catalyst. All theinformation we need to accomplish anything already existsand for the most part is already available to us. There isstill data hiding behind classified or trade secret status, butmost information now is free if you know where to look.36 Mason, M. (2008) The Pirate’s Dilemma: with more at http://thepiratesdilemma.com/ 80

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What is needed now is not more information but the abilityto find and assemble useful instruction from the existinginformation. Those of us living in the world are immersedin a zeitgeist overwhelmed by informational abundance.Recapturing archaic skills of hunting and gathering we canfind what we need to exorcise ourselves of such hang-upsas modernist specialization or capitalistic competition.The best way to keep the data accessible is to share thedata actively, as this allows the frame of the data to evolveas the mechanisms of storage evolve.We are altering virtual reality when manipulating the netof language and sensation in which we are all are caught tovarying degrees. We can train our brains and the brains ofothers to assemble the pieces according to differentschema. If the only world people know is the story toldafter the fact then changing the story changes their world.Changing peoples worlds also changes what they do. Thisobviously gives the storyteller immense power, and putinto practice this falls under the idea of a hypertext. Thehyper in hypertext refers to the links embedded in the textthat creates out of separate pieces a network ofassociations. These links of associations allow readers anonlinear method to navigate across and through texts.This radical change in how people use text is one whoseeffects are only starting to be felt. It has allowed readers a 81

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view of meaning that is somehow beyond the traditionalexperience of reading, one in which the co-creationalaspects of language and text is more keenly felt.This heightened awareness sets up a dynamic within thereader setting them on their own path to interpreting atext, and serves to have gone from a footnote in the literaryworld to the primary model in which new media arenavigated by todays media consumer37. Thishypertextuality online and by way of fragmentation, (ormore properly, fractalization) of digitized media means thepotential for people to start from the same meme pool butout of that space develop truly unique personalenvironments, experiences, and fully realized virtualworlds is greater than ever before. Fan culture alone hasdeveloped as a kind of post-industrial cargo cult, and theglobal nature of interconnected fan communities38 hasexpanded the reach of any given trend or hot icon.37 Read the chapter “Why Heather Can Write” in Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence Culture38 One particularly relevant novel is Gibson, William (2003) Pattern Recognition 82

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7Memetic Ecology in Action:In Thought Contagion, Aaron Lynchs analysis limits histopic to the level of the larger, more permanent beliefstructures but does not take into account the fastertransmission of casual ideas as memetic patterns39. Lynchcompares memetics to the fictional science of“Psychohistory” which Asimov proposed in TheFoundation series, and along the way he seems to havegotten somewhat hung-up on the differences whileattempting to catalog the similarities. We feel the answeris to integrate pure memetics with other disciplines ofcooperative game theory, information sciences, and a post-structural practice grounded in sociological theory. At thesame time, incorporating an understanding of the role ofcounter-public spheres and rhizomatic networks capable ofspreading memes outside of or underneath the awareness39 Please bear in mind that we are not discounting his work, far from it. Thought Contagion,along with Richard Brodies Virus of the Mind, are profoundly accessible works on the waythat belief grows and manifests in culture. 83

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of the primary or parent culture is vital to understandingthe totality of the memetic ecology in action.Memes are at the conversion point where the flow of desiretransforms into actions taken. They attach themselves tothe needs/desire and motivate action. All memes containan action for someone to carry out. Many times that actionwill be further spreading the meme but other times it willinclude other actions such as voting for a candidate orbuying a product. Because memetic entities exist acrosspersons it is possible they will form a group mind. Torepurpose the idea Deleuze stole from Spinoza, a body isdefined by what it can do. When a percentage of apopulation chooses to vote a certain way because of ashared belief, that event can be interpreted as the action ofthe belief system, terministic screen, or memetic entity.The important thing about a meme is not the packaging orthe meaning, but the intention it carries.Just as we visualize the internet as a cyberspaceconstructed out of the memory of nodes and the lines ofcommunication between them, we visualize the memeticecosphere as a mental space based on the human beingsand the lines of communication between them. Theinternet is then just one communication platform for thisnetwork. Any given individual is a component in acybernetic system of the social situations and contexts that 84

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individual interacts within. What component will have themost influence on the outcome of an interaction dependson what cyberneticists call requisite variety. Requisitevariety is the number of options available to thecomponent as a response to an input. The component, andtherefore the person, with the most options available are ata distinct advantage in an interaction.Let us take as a hypothetical situation two men competingfor the attention and affection of a single woman. The firstman has three basic tactics: talking about sharedexperiences, physical sexuality, and violence40. The other isadditionally capable of intellectual conversation, mocking,and flirting. The second man can vary his response to thewoman or the first man more often and with greatersubtlety. With his greater number of conversationalgambits he can maneuver the other man into situationsthat the other man doesn’t have a response to or that he’llmake the wrong response. The second man can alsoengage the woman’s attention for more of her possiblemoods, significantly changing the dynamic of the socialsituation in his favor through adaptation to feedback.Another example of requisite variety at work is in the jobinterview situation. The interview questions are essentiallysetting the variety necessary to succeed. If the interviewee40 Recently I witnessed an interaction very similar to my simplified description above. Themore flexible male shut down his competitor to the point the competitor developed anew option; he drank until he passed out and didn’t have to compete anymore. - Edward 85

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does not have enough options in their behavior to answerall of the questions offered satisfactorily then hisapplication is rejected. Requisite variety is largelyexpressed here by being able to recognize the questionsbehind the question and in being able to reframe yourexperience to be relevant answers41. In other words, if youdon’t understand the questions, be prepared to askyourself a similar question you can answer, and thenanswer that question.There are three points in the response process that we canconcentrate on increasing our variety in a useful way. Wecan work on our inputs, our processing, or our output. Ifwe choose to concentrate on our input than what we woulddo is increase the subtlety of the distinctions we make. Wewould work on increasing the number of patterns werecognize. If we concentrate on our output then weincrease the number of responses we can make. Increasethe subtlety of our output and learn new ways ofexpressing ourselves. Finally, we can work on ourprocessing. This is perhaps the most difficult to do. Whatyou would want to do with the processing is to arrange theconnections between the input and the best possibleoutput in relation to it. In this what you are trying to do islook at the input you are getting in terms of what input you41 You’d be surprised how well this works to distract and confuse the questioner. 86

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want from the other person and output. The processingphase is in this way the most complicated.The processing step is most related to the idea of feedbackloops. You have to have some model of the response youare looking for from the people you are communicatingwith, and information theory states that you need a fulltwo cycles worth of information about a system in order toproperly evaluate it. You have to make some kind ofcomparison between the signal you are getting and the oneyou want. Then you have to have some idea of what actionon your part is likely to lead to the other people makingtheir signal more like the one you want. In general we alldo this naturally but it is quite possible to improve howwell we do this. The number of potential processing stepsis equal to the number of inputs you are capable ofrecognizing multiplied by the number of outputs you cando multiplied by the number of outcomes you want. Theinternal processes can quickly get unwieldy. Thankfullymost of them are operated almost entirely unconsciously.When engaged in this kind of fine tuning work on yourresponses the goal is not to make all of these optionsconscious for you, but to engage in a standard learningcycle. We want to move from unconscious incompetence toconscious incompetence to conscious competence andfinally to unconscious competence. In general all of your 87

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processing and most of your input and output areunconsciously competent at what they are doing andunconsciously incompetent at what you are not doing. Oneway of going about this is to watch what other people aredoing that you are not42. Once you have identified whereyou are incompetent you have already moved into phasetwo. Now what you need to do is find out what someonecompetent in these particular patterns do, and modelingthat behavior. Practice this until you are competentlydoing the more effective pattern without thinking about it.42 Or looking for where the output you are doing is leading away from the response forwhich you were seeking. 88

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8Effectively Transmitting:Magic is applied occult philosophy, and as such has itstextual roots most firmly in the writings of Agrippasdepiction of a three-layered web of manifestation, with theintellectual space assuming primacy over the elementaland celestial spaces. Memeticists anchor their focus in thisspace of the intellect, as it is there that these webs ofassociation go on to engineer experiences. It is also in thisspace where masterminding techniques are designed tocreate small associational meanings to be distributedthrough a network, and where symbolic literacy can bemost efficiently taught. Mastermind groups are sources ofmemetic evolution, and can be consciously oriented intovirtual think-tanks for meme development or memeticlaboratories, constructed within the intellectual space toobserve generational differences and thus be able to adaptand modify structural elements of the memes thusanalyzed. 89

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The next object in creating a memetic campaign is tostreamline the effectiveness of the communication.Marketing, at its fundamental core, is a highly developedform of persuasion based on communication at its mosteffective, and serves as a useful model for understandinghow to transmit or broadcast a meme into a network.The ad that interrupts our favorite show is emotionallyconnected with our reaction to that show, and even moredirectly connected when the ad is placed within the show.For an example of how "mere words" can have a direct (yetbut unconscious) effect on physiology see the episode inBlink by Malcolm Gladwell where the subject of apsychological experiment receives the hidden message of"old" and moves slower as a result. Earlier, we addressedmemes as being primarily transmitted via linguisticconstructs, but this is simply because of efficiency. Memescan be transmitted through inimitable behaviors, andwhen presented with complimentary framing, there is anemotional transference from frame to meme that occursbeneath the awareness of the average individual.A widely used form of persuasive advertising is modeledon a practice identified in Operation Margarine by RolandBarthes, in which the advertiser raises objections to theproduct at the outset, then answer the objections with themessage intended to be assimilated and repeated. There 90

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are three reasons why this is so effective, the first beingthat even if the marketers message does not pass rationalmuster, it this type of framing makes it more likely peoplewill accept the message without reflection. Second, if themarketer had not raised and then answered the objections,people would more likely encounter the objections laterand would be without a clear way to navigate past theobjection, which leads to the third reason: the marketerhas already framed the conceptual space of any futuredebate due to biased reaction toward the end goal of themarketer. Hopefully the practices well be outlining in thissection can help you first develop your awareness of, andthen secondly craft your reactions to these techniques.Finally, well help you use these techniques yourself.Experimenting with the way in which a concept istransmitted becomes contextualized rather quickly, and itwould be problematic discerning between non-linguisticbehavior that transmit a meme and a non-verbal signifyingaction that is part of culture. Imagine encountering ahand-shaking memebearer for the first time - an individualwalks up, greets you verbally, and then extends their righthand. Should you instinctively mimic the motion and theyclasp and shake your hand, the meme has been effectivelytransmitted, even if you had never been exposed toprevious hand-shakers. What is understood as a signifierwithin a culture is interpreted as a non-linguistic behavior 91

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by those outside the culture until theyve beenindoctrinated, or bequeathed the technical language of"handshakes" that now grants a meaning to a specificmotion. Of course, for memes to survive and spread theremust be communication and a way for the meme to triggerthe host organisms motivational systems. For non-linguistic or behavioral memes a relation to pleasureand/or pain would be most effective. For linguisticmemes, emotional appeals are likely the best method.Perspective modeling is a method of language training thatbequeaths you with the ability to converse directly with theforces of group minds, and to bring in the most activatedsymbolic phrasings possible. We said at the beginning ofthis section that were dealing solely with magic in theintellectual sphere - this is not to detract from viablemagical work via spirit-based or energy-based systems.Instead, were evolving specific traditional approaches tothe basic building blocks of symbology by focusing on theway private and public meaning informs contemporarytalismanic magic, and affirming that this magical workmoves energy from an individual out into the world just asit works to imprint an individual with the hegemonicmemeplex of technocratic monoculture.The art of framing an encounter allows you to engineer theoutcome to your liking based on the signals you send out 92

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and the way you internalize and manipulate the meaningyou receive. Reframing an interaction or communicationis an act of navigation. In part two, we intend to provideyou, the reader, with as many ways to frame networkinteractions as possible. 93

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9Knowing Oneself in a Group Mind Dynamic:Second Life is a system for meeting and interacting withacquaintances while World of Warcraft is a system forforming guilds and raiding parties, not to mentionexploration, character development, and an open-ended,yet expansive narrative. While some people are fascinatedwith SL, a lot more people are addicted to WoW.Encountering and enduring stress together in a sharedmodality is a way to create bonds between people, be thatmodality a job, a virtual space, a group activity, anaudience... any space in which all the participants areequally (or believed to be equally) engaged within the samemodality.Because theres more stress involved with the game play,connections formed in WoW are predictably more intensethan those in Second Life. This kind of group behavior istruly an intriguing thing to observe in action. Group 96

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minds are, by and large, infectious and possessive. Theyseem to displace elements of identity at the pre-consciouslevel, and as such effect decision-making processes ofthose involved with the group mind, hijacking thedecision-making system. Another factor to consider is thatbonds are intensified by stress, and a group that deals withmassive amounts of internal and external stress will have asignificantly stronger egregore than other groups of similarsize but with much less stress.43Once an individual is conscious of the influence ofinstitutions, egregores, and memes, they can moreaccurately constrain the selection of reactions present inthe preconscious mind at any given moment. This allowsfor decisions to be based on the individuals intentions anddesires rather than remaining hardwired to the optionsimposed by external entities.One of the various methods available to expose anddeconstruct ones external influences was hinted at in theprevious section and consists of successive iterations of43 On a similar note, during the years from 1998 through until about 2004 I was exposedto an ongoing perpetual conversation within Astrology:1, one of the chat rooms atYahoo.com - a chatroom that had a revolving cast of various chatters, and that oftendevolved into arguments and flame wars--it became obvious that the layer of anonymityafforded by a Yahoo ID allowed the id of the various participants a kind of publicfreedom of expression. Over the years of either engaging in chat or watching andlistening to chat rooms a number of patterns became apparent, the most important forthis text being the way that focal points developed in reaction to what a chat room wouldview as a threat by a troll, spammer, or chatbot. Individuals who fought every day, oftenfor hours at a time over the most arcane extrapolations of astrological minutiae, wouldimmediately band together to confront an external stress. - Wes 97

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remixing and collaging. As discussed previously, ones selfcan be seen as a bricolage44, an assemblage of variousmemes. The result of this perception is that one is ablethen to begin evolving the idea of the self. The self is nolonger seen as a singular unit, but rather as a communityof interrelated entities perpetually sorting, mixing,selecting, and arranging stimuli into a composite ourconscious mind interprets as reality.This ongoing, internal cut-up process continues to providefresh and innovative ideas that the conscious self is oftencompelled to share with other individuals, which they theninternalized and route through the same processes. Bytaking this process out of the preconscious awareness andconsciously deciding to create a collage, or to manipulatesamples, or cut-up text, is an act of revealing onespreconscious influences. Collage will bring to consciousawareness the subliminal influences that are acting uponyour decision-making processes in a way that acts bothquickly and accurately.On the opposite side of the spectrum, you can acceleratepersonal evolution by joining and participating in acommunity of meme sharers and engaging in the iterativeprocess of collating, manipulating, and sharing memes44 Lévi-Strauss, C. (1966) The Savage Mind provides the first reference to the importance ofbricolage, although not the full application of it as a technique. 98

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within that group. As said previously, its important to beconscious of what kind of groups you are associated with,and to assess the validity of the information that the groupchampions, the memes the group disseminates, and howthe groups goals dovetail with your own long-term goals 45We’ve already discussed the importance of finding othersto work with by outlining the mastermind group, buthaven’t spoken specifically to the experience on anindividual of joining such a group. Most importantly, youneed to know who you are and what you bring to thegroup.Knowing yourself means knowing your weaknesses,knowing your emotional boundaries, and knowing yourpsychological triggers. As a reader, your perceptions andinsights that arise from this book will be substantiallydifferent depending on if you identify as an individual, as amember of a group, or as a leader of a group. The aim hereis to become conscious, both of the influences that exertexternal pressure on individual identity and the influencean individual can have within a group dynamic toward aspecific outcome. Masterminding is manifesting a groupdynamic or pattern that sustains the energy of the group,and having access to a method to map out individualswithin the group greatly facilitates this work.45 W ilson, Robert A. (1990) Quantum Psychology is an important text, as well as Farrell,Nick (2005) Gathering the Magic in finding groups and understanding the effect joining agroup can have on the self and one’s self-image. 99

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It is interesting to note that in most groups, differentapproaches to understanding the individual’s role in thegroup is so often relegated to one personality typingsystem or another. MBTI46, Enneagram, Astrologicalsigns, color coded rays, stations, positions—these are allsystems which structure individuals within a group alongspecific, internally consistent dynamics. While we suspecta group could be structured along the Dewey Decimalsystem, it seems more appropriate to base a discussion ona psychological typing system that is dynamic andresponds to network interactions rather than catalogingthe specific nodes by mood or temperament.In chapter four we discussed Timothy Learysinterpersonal circumplex47, a personality compass used ingroup therapy to categorize individuals in relation to eachother within a group setting. A group that balances nicelywill retain a more specific focus, while one with too manyindividuals falling to one side of the compass or anotherwill quickly spiral into destruction or leak energy throughentropy. The center of this compass can be thought of asthe groups purpose, or focus, and the individuals that46 Based on socionics, a typing system that Carl Jung worked on, and which breaks uppersonality along four axis. Popular within corporate cultures human resources divisionsvarious mentoring programs, and probably as a result there are numerous online quizzeswhich will analyze your responses to tell you your four-letter personality type.47 You can easily find a great deal more information on this template in moments using anonline search engine. Google the term “interpersonal circumplax” and do an imagesearch as well as a search on Scholar.Google.Com. 100

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generate this focus are arranged around the center basedon their reactions to the other members of the group. It isfairly easy to adapt this model to the intentional generationof a group mind, as a way to orient individuals to a projectwhen they first become a part of the group, as well as a wayto identify problems before they threaten group cohesion.In the next few chapters, we’ll dig deeper into using groupminds to create communications and the formation ofmemes as a kind of sigil construction.48 We’ll address theconvergence points between individual growth and groupevolution. We’ll provide techniques and examples fortriggering changes in your internal state as well asinfluencing social networks. And finally we will posit somebenefits to more efficient social machines. However, it isvital that you begin by making some assessment of whoyou are through as many filters as possible first, before youcan make a rational decision about how you integrate witha group or what messages you intend to create, or memesyou wish to distribute.Exercise:Using a search engine, find and take an MBTI quiz, then spend a fewhours taking other quizzes you find interesting, and take notes onoverlapping themes. Doing this several times a year provides a wayto chart personal changes over time.48 Or sigilization. 101

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10Trans-Media Meme Construction:We’re in a tricky area here, playing with the analogy ofsigils as a way of constructing a meme, meaning a cursoryexploration of what the term sigilization means isnecessary. Modern sigilization work owes a massive debtto Austin Osman Spare49, but it also owes a great deal toIKEA. IKEAs products include sheets designed where anyindividual, no matter what language they might read, iscapable of following the same set of instructions.One can imagine a future development of thismetalanguage involving video that allows textuality towhither away, and as an example of a precursor of this oneneed only look to Youtubes interface where the video youare watching is accompanied by graphical thumbnails bywhich to select more videos for watching. No words arenecessary and the hyperlinking mitigates the linearity49 Spare, A.O. (1917) “Automatic Writing”:http://www.banger.com/spare/auto/index.html 103

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inherent in video, while the short clips further contributeto the a-linearity. In addition, a number of strides havebeen taken in developing sigilization techniques for audioand even olfactory imprinting.The iconography of culture in this day and age is easilyaccessible via image searches online as corporate logos,political seals and emblems, religious symbolism, and popculture imagery can be immediately accessed. Usingtalismantic images an individual privately constructs in apublic ritual space winds up falling somewhere in betweenthese two ends of the iconographic spectrum. On the oneend, theres the personal and for all purposes asemic sigils,and at the other end theres the universal language ofcircles with slashes, skulls for poison, and lightning boltsfor electrical voltage.Whether working with sigilization, developing a personalalphabet of desire, or constructing memes for transmissioninto a larger social group, it helps to be conversant with theiconography and motivational triggers of that culture. Asfor examples of popular motivational triggers, considerthese words and phrases: You. Proven. Guarantee. Makemoney. Save money. Save time. Look Better. Learnmore. Money. Save. Results. Live longer. Feelcomfortable. Discovery. Be loved. Love. Become popular.Experience pleasure. Health. Safety. Easy. New. These 104

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are only a small sampling of motivationally positivetriggers, theres a whole host of negative triggers alreadyestablished in our collective psyche as well. Just listen inon any shortwave station or internet conspiracy theorypodcast50 to get an idea of the vast array of negativepsychological triggers out there. Political commercialsduring election campaigns also often rely on negativeemotional triggers to influence voters’ perceptions ofpolitical opponents. And nightly news segments often relyon similar techniques in their lead-ins to capture and holdthe viewers attention across commercial breaks. Terror ortoxic marketing is one area of negative psychologicaltriggering that works when the target demographic hasdeveloped resistance to mass-marketing techniques. Insome sense, all black metal is a kind of toxic marketing.Most horror films use toxic marketing, a great (butfictional) example comes from the 1990 film Crazy People,in which an advertising executive places an ad for a filmcalled The Freak with a tagline of "This film wont justscare you, this film will fuck you up for life." Whilefictional, there are plenty of advertisements nowadays thatuse essentially the same fear-based marketing to reach ademographic that ignores more typical advertising.50 All internet and radio call-in shows promote a kind of vampiric function on the bodypolitic, and most rely on toxic marketing to maintain audience attention. 105

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As we are writing this book, we have privately analyzed theindividual tactics and overall strategy that the UnitedStates in general and the President specifically have usedto influence public opinion during the 2008 USPresidential Elections. The overall strategy seems to be adeliberate attempt to manifest chaos through the tactic ofbuying into the propaganda of the moment. For example,evidence suggests that Donald Rumsfeld in the early daysof the formation of Homeland Security personally directedthe dissemination of fear-mongering news releases,designed around these very principles of Terror Marketing.While we dont wish to elaborate on the intentionality ofthe Bush Administration, the Office of the President andthe Department of Justice have certainly relied uponnegative emotional triggers embedded in statementsissued to the press51 to further their agendas and controlthe meaning of any given event. Meaning ascribed andknotted up inside a sigil can be equally as wide-ranging asthe form in which the sigil may take, and it would beimpossible to survey the enormity of material one can findsimply by typing sigilization into any respectable searchengine (such as, say, kartoo.com). One of the sigilizationtechniques which has arisen in recent years online is thehyperstition, a virtual or abstract form that realizes itselfthough the actions of those who hold that idea-set.51 A sigilization, if you will. 106

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The transformation of H.P. Lovecrafts fictional mythosinto a working occult system with numerous andcontradictory Necronomicons now available via Amazon52is another example of hyperstition in action. Many artistsrely on self-fulfilling critical acclaim as a way of life, andduring a political campaign strategists are paid enormoussums of money to maintain the narrative and hyperstitionmomentum built from the totality of a candidates publicpersona and rhetoric across the print articles, speeches,and video footage released by the campaign. In a way, thehyperstition is the persona or public discussion about anygiven meme bearer, be that an individual or an egregore.Under the aegis of hyperstition fall such fields as buzz orhype generating an attendant media event. Repetition of astatement such as This is the biggest album of the Yearconsistently from every major media outlet prior to thealbums release that then triggers enough sales andpositive reactions to make the statement become true is afunctional hyperstition.Speaking directly of video, look at how, with the saturationof video communication, any event can be filmed. Storiesare viral packets of information that insert themselves intoyour pre-conscious mind by way of your emotionalresponses. The footage then can be associated with52 Not to mention the countless black metal homages being paid to Cthulhu,Nyarlathotep, and the various other crawly forces at the edge of math. H. P. Lovecraft’smythos is a complex, interconnected fictional mastermind session that will not die. 107

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emotional markers through juxtaposition and then shownto many people many times. Within this context of aglobal communication structure capable of deliveringnearly instantaneous video coverage from anywhere in theworld, terrorism has become incredibly valuable to theattention economy, accelerating the memes beingespoused by or attributed to the terrorists. It is one thingto be told that hundreds of people have died in a suicidebombing; it is another thing entirely to be shown videofootage of the event in all its drama, movement, and color.Video, in todays Internet climate, is fast becoming thetarget of choice for memeticists and the idea of creating aviral video53 has captivated marketers around the world.Learning how to craft a video sigil to influence a massiveamount of people certainly falls into the realm ofsigilization, and swaying masses of people to influencetheir behavior is a magical act on the part of the editor andproducer of the video piece.53 Viral video is a recent development, having first making an impression in the searchengines around late 2005. Examining http://www.google.com/trends?q=viral+videoprovides a real-world version of a meme adoption pattern. As producers heard about thisidea of viral video, more and more came online looking for, as well as producing, viralvideo. The feedback in word-of-mouth spread is reflected in it’s digital shadow online. 108

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11Phagic Repurposing of Existing Memes:Every action is performed by a body, or rather; bodies areentities which perform actions54. Different networks in thesocial strata have different reactions to the same memecapsid. A body which is aligned with all the bodies inimmediate proximity towards the same end-goals of thoseadjacent bodies will be most efficient and effective inflowing toward its desire. This is infinitely scalable55across the internal and external division, allowing worklike internal alchemy and media magic to be approachedfrom the same model. In secular magic it is understoodthat formula of causing change in accordance with willmeans navigating the memetic superstructure of societyaccording to desire, that navigation is the action of thebody, and that body need not be an individual (or evenphysical) construct.54 See Chapter 5.55 And puts one in mind of Indra’s net, or Hesse’s The Glass-Bead Game. 109

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In addition, iconographic language and the creation ofsigils falls under the same mechanism as what StanislavGrof calls a COEX system, an associated chain of bodilymemory. Words are a technology, and the internalizationof a memeplex occurs as a result of a nested chain ofmemes being absorbed in sequence. Theres a few ways inwhich memes can be forced into a body, the most obviousbeing what conspiracy theorists call Diocletians Problem-Reaction-Solution model56.Other patterns are linked or webbed memetic structures,and yet another is the phagic model. The phagic model isusually the slowest to influence an entire culture, while theproblem-reaction-solution model relies on catastrophicchange and works the fastest (although doesnt necessarilysustain change over a long term.) The linked or webbedstructure falls somewhere in the middle, and seems togenerate a visible paradigm shift when it is at its mostsuccessful, as well as appears to be the most organic and assuch have the best pattern integrity. Well leave discussionon the merits of the problem-reaction-solution modelalone, as its doubtful that the average reader would haveaccess to the kind of resources that are required for thatlevel of psychological warfare and focus instead on theother two models, both of which lend themselves to thekind of magical work easily available to modern magicians56 Or the thesis/antithesis/synthesis pattern. 110

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and the advertising efforts of promoters and marketers.While constructing a sigilic web or any other type ofsorcery event series is equivalent to the construction of amemeplex or trans-media advertising campaign.An example of linked, webbed, or nested memeplexdevelopment occurs naturally with the introduction of abreakthrough technology, for example one such as vehiclesthat radically increases the spectrum of a bodys capability.The early development stage includes the marketing,refinement, and testing of the new technology. As thetechnology finds widespread acceptance and use, it entersan expansion stage and the improvements continue.Eventually the technology reaches its mature stage,typified by global acceptance and use, but the rate ofproduct improvement plateaus until the technologyreaches a saturation point. Saturation usually can beidentified when diminishing returns are encountered,based on a disproportionate amount of effort is expendedrelative to any increase in the technologys distribution.Its important to note that technology can be understood asa meme body in action, be that body enabled by a gadget oran abstract technology such as a formal coding language oralgorithm. Technology is not limited to an end-productbut is an application of a principle, and these principles areoften derived from beliefs about the nature of reality57. As57 Understanding how technology can cause a cascading transformation, leading to aparadigm shift gives insight into the process of designing a series of nested sigilic events. 111

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beliefs change, technology undergoes its own revisions.This same technique is also used in phagic repurposing ofexisting memes, and involves tracking the motivationalaxis of an existing meme then positioning your intentionaskew to the motivational axis58 to redirect the meme-bearer.A phage, as used in references in computer programming,refers to a program that modifies other programs ordatabases in unauthorized ways, especially in propagationof a virus or Trojan. Within the phagic model of memedistribution, the phage carries within it a new approach toexisting technology, or a new technology to solve existingmodels. As a result, the spread requires an existing memeinto which the phage injects its message, effectivelytransforming the behavior of the meme-bearer.Each sigil is based on the previous, and then all of the sigils are placed in relation to eachother. As one sigil is fired, the next is prepared, and intention is thereby leveraged againstthe existing order of things. For further reference on these magical techniques we’vedescribed, we recommend Phil Hines book Prime Chaos in which he explains SorceryEvent Series, and Taylor Elwoods Sigil Web explanation in the book Space/Time Magic.58 Switching from Half-Life to Hitman to Halo to Doom and back, one is experiencing thememe of first person shooter, fully unflowered with multiple forms of that meme indifferent evolutionary patterns filling that vicinity of meme space. Each repurposes fromthe same cultural pool new variations to pair with the baseline first person shooter capsid,and each seeks to embiggen its market share and mind share. There’s a lot of interest inmaintaining the player’s attention span, knowing how to manage discontinuity ofexposure properly is essential to retaining end-users. 112

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12Elements of Memetics:A city is a giant information system that allows its physicalcomponents (people, roads, vehicles, buildings, parks,power, water, and sewage infrastructures) to move andchange in much the same way the brain changes. Thisneuroplasticity is a part of the way natural cyberneticsystems process information, and evolved computersphysically change in response to changes in activity. In ourmetaphor here, saying that a city is a giant computer is thesame as saying a city is a giant brain.Culturally, we speak of cities as having a character, and theconcept of a genus loci or a spirit tied to a citys heart in theform of a totemic intelligence goes back as far as humanhistory has been recorded. Even a city as conservative andmundane as Wichita, Kansas has a Keeper of the Plainstotem guarding the local river from tornadoes that appears 113

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on all local government documents, Copenhagen has thelittle mermaid (a.k.a. Den Lille Havfrue), and all statecapitals in the United States have the goddess Columbiapresent in some fashion (and, in fact, the hymn O,Columbia was the United States original national anthem.)These entities can be called on by the magician to help withany working involving local politics or to help revealopportunities within that area to great effect. It is theposition of the authors of this book that these entities areemanations of complexity, that consciousness andintelligence is a result of massively interconnectedsystems, and that each part of such a structure containssome essence of the whole. We believe there is much roomfor experimentation along these lines.Ultimately, the world we are embedded in is more subjectto the percentage economics of flexibility than the additiveeconomics of energy. We look at networks of signalpropagation to examine how each node alters the signals,and we watch what percentage of that change remainswhen the signal closes a circuit by returning to that node.We can cause something to happen by influencing thesystem to give us the signals we want by putting out theright signals ourselves. It is not enough to declare yourintent to yourself and then ignore it. You need to releasesignals into the larger system. 114

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Obviously, the best way to do this is action. Start acting asif your goal will happen and start taking actions to help ithappen. You do not need to plan exactly how it happensbut by acting with conviction that your goal is possible youare signaling your intent. The larger system will respondwith signals of opportunities to further your goals, and youneed to be open and attentive to these opportunities. Seizethis feedback and adjust your actions accordingly.The necessary component of a meme-signal to ensureexposure is its cybernetic noticibility. If the significance ofa signal is both attractive and sufficiently different fromthe surrounding signals, it will garner enough attention togive the meme a greater probability of spreading. Oldmemes reframed in new ways are just as likely to be pickedup as entirely new memes, but for the transition fromexposure to infection to occur the meme must addressitself to the needs and priorities of its potential host. Ofcourse, the needs of the host are partially influenced by itsprior acceptance of other memes, which is one of thereasons we see memes cluster together.We briefly addressed linked, webbed, or nestedmemeplexes, lets now bring that into focus. For example,the impulse to eat isnt necessarily a meme, but ones beliefthat you need steak, or sushi, or chocolate is a meme, one 115

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connected to many others. A secondary meme aboutwhats the best sushi restaurant is going to infect morepeople who need sushi than people who need steak orchocolate.When consciously designing a meme, there are a fewprinciples to keep in mind. 1. The actual physical representations of your signal. These can be varied and should be periodically updated to make them fresh and attractive to their viewers. 2. The cognitive principles that the message exploits to get past peoples defenses. 3. The emotions the signals evoke and the needs it promises to fulfill. 4. The intent of the message and the actions in the target that this requires. 116

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Each layer of the meme- seeds covering is meant to bridge it to the next and towards the ultimate goal of the signal, the receiver doing what the sender wants, like a time released capsule or a layered gobstopper. The shiny, colorful surface convinces the target to pop it in their mouth. The cognitive exploitshelp them swallow it, the needs-fulfillment helps themdigest it, and the intent is what the substance does to them.Again, memes are not concerned with the content of themessages; instead they are computing instructions for anetwork (see figure). The hardware of this network ispeople and all of the physical and abstract objects they useto communicate and structure their behaviors. Individualneurons appear to be one level at which processing occurs,and they connect to each other as networks and intoclusters as brain structures. Society, like the brain,displays features of neuroplasticity in the ways it physicallyand abstractly restructures and repurposes its connectionsand activities. 117

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This approach to social engineering recapitulates old ideasexpressed by hermeticists and alchemists that themicrocosm mirrors the macrocosm expressed in theformula As Above, So Below59. The parallelism betweenthe structure of the brain, the internet, and people in theworld is the ideal example of this adage. Studying thepatterns of swarm intelligence within any of thesestructures can describe how the actions of individuals, bethey people or neurons, lead to the complex behavior wecall traffic60, because the human brain operates much like asocial structure. In the first section of this book wediscussed the problem of inappropriately appliedmetaphors and the breakdown in communication. One ofthe criticisms of the brain as computer metaphor is thehigh degree of neuroplasticity the brain exhibits, thecriticism being that computers do not allow the software tochange the hardware in the way that experiencerestructures the human brain. We feel that the metaphorof brain as computer is accurate, and that perhaps ourelectronic computers are still too primitive to exhibit thisfeature.59 And hence the homage to the alchemicists in our “Elemental Meme Production”figure.60 Which I discuss in depth in Appendix II, “Traffic Dragon.” - Edward 118

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13Science of Marketing and Narration:The purpose of rhetoric is persuasion.Marketing is a form of persuasion directed towardsgenerating action. These actions can be anything fromconvincing a person to attend an event, vote a specific way,choose coffee over tea or plastic over paper, or even toadopt a belief. To do this you must set up and presentthem with a consistent but incomplete pattern. You givethem only feed from the pattern that requires initiatoryaction on their part, and their own need for completionand closure will lead to their adopting the necessaryresponse. If you are selling something you must build upthe context of the sale so that all that is left is theiragreement and their cash for the transaction. You mustconstruct this pattern in terms of their emotions, needs,and motivators. It is not enough for the sale to completeyour own need-pattern, but rather it must solve and 120

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complete their need-patterns. You create the circuit oftheir desire so that they must purchase from you to closethe circuit and let the current flow. To do this, first youmust figure out what needs they have open. Then youframe your offer as the solution by telling the story of theirdesires enacted through your product. Only after theyvebeen drawn through your narrative should you offer it tothem for sale.Selling a product is the most directly measurable memeticengagement. The exchange of currency is a verifiabletransaction, proof that a memetic event occurred. Asmagicians, were interested in understanding brandidentification as sympathetic magic, a metaphor otherbooks on marketing would bypass in favor of morepsychological terms such as transference or emotionalentanglement, however these various terms all describe thesame event. A person buys a specific brand to associatethemselves with the feelings and meanings the brandsymbolically represents61. These representations are veryseldom accidental, instead they are carefully planned outby brand managers and account planners who are taskedwith maintaining a specific image for the brand with theintention of creating this very response.61 People buy not to own, but to join the ranks of those who own a specific product.Mack, Ben, (2007) Think Two Products Ahead and Sugarman, Joseph (1999) Triggers bothexplore how best to leverage this motivation. 121

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Brand managers know that while conscious emotionrelates best to a narrative or story, unconscious desireworks best with metaphoric association and juxtaposition.Advertisements show products with sexy models notbecause they want to convince you that using theirproducts will cause models to flock to you, but rather toassociate preconscious desire for the model with theproduct. They want you to transfer or sublimate yoursexual desire into a longing for the branded product.People buy energy bars, basketball shoes and sports drinksto convince themselves and others that they are athletic.The product becomes a stand-in for actually working out;the desire to be healthy has been sublimated intopurchasing a commodity.Most marketers are actively trying to get their message togo viral. One of the most successful viral campaigns everwas the Wheres the Beef campaign from years ago, aphrase that still crops up now and again in dailyconversation. Another, more recent phenomenon is theGot Milk campaign, which has been subverted into Got_____ where blanks been filled in with everything fromreligious references (Got Jesus) to vampire references(Got Blood). While this phrase appears to be marketingentirely different products as the message is changed, itsstill summoning up the pre-conscious memetic structure ofGot Milk to those whove been exposed to the primary 122

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meme every time they encounter one of these derivativereferences. Even a partial distribution of your meme (suchas Got Syrup rather than Got Milk) predisposes people toaccept the core message when they re-encounter it in anewly refined way later on.Memetics provides the tools to understanding how thingsgo viral, or, to reference another popular work onmemetics, how people tip your meme. The wider yoursignal is spread in any given communication network, thegreater the effect it is going to have. One way to help yourmeme-seed is to make sure it is highly infectious bymaking people pay attention to it, remember it, and repeatit in their own words. Who you communicate the meme toinitially is another important component in how well yourmessage spreads. People with large close and large weaksocial connections are known as connectors. People whoothers turn to as a trusted source of quality information,known as mavens, are the most important meme-bearers,because they maintain the meme’s integrity.Malcolm Gladwells book The Tipping Point is structuredaround understanding the dynamic interplay betweenmavens, connectors, and salesmen, and we feel that youshould study this book if you wish to focus more on themarketing aspects of memetics. However, be aware that 123

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this book has triggered some intense controversy62, andthat further research is necessary into what causes trendsto take hold. Another instance of behavior modificationthrough meme adoption is represented in the protocol oretiquette attached to specific social situations. Theprotocol of a coffee shop, for example, exists in thememories of the staff of the shop and the environmentwhich has been shaped to fita set of behavioralexpectations of the staff aswell as the customer. Then,within that space, all of theindividuals act according tothose expectations.As the customers follow the cues made by the employees,they are obeying the protocol while at the same timereinforcing the protocol set that is part of the overall coffeeshop memeplex. Of course, over time the customers canaffect changes in the way the store operates, but only if thestaff accepts the differences in behavior, as the staff spendsthe most time in that space and as such has a greaterinfluence over the protocol63 of that space. Various socialcontexts could be envisioned as differently interconnectedcommunication networks and we could examine how these62 See Clive Thomas’ article, “Is the Tipping Point Toast?” athttp://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-tipping-point-toast.html63 Protocol is the expectation of how to behave within a particular context, and is oftenattached to a physical space. 124

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configurations affect movement, retention, and alterationof the content that exists on these networks. Bearing thisin mind, lets examine ways in which to spread a signal ona communication network.Referring again to the descriptors taken from The TippingPoint, we can understand connectors to be primary hubswithin the network. They broadcast the meme into manydifferent clusters, exposing many people to the signal butnot necessarily effectively infecting those clusters with thememe. Salesman will alter the signal to suit theiraudiences, and while they dont expose as many people tothe meme they do infect a greater percentage than aconnector. However, because they do alter the signal to fittheir audience they carry the risk of distorting the signal.Mavens tend to hold the most detailed version of thesignal, and act as a repository or cache of the memes coremessage; however Mavens tend to broadcast to the leastnumber of people.Thus the three primary ways in which a signal spreadsacross a network relies on manipulating the content of thesignal for the network, manipulating how the signal entersthe network, or manipulating the structure of the networkto more easily transmit the signal. Social epidemics oroutbreaks are not always biological in nature. Memes aresocially transmitted and cannot exist in the absence of 125

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communication or other social behaviors. Social pressuresare a large part of the motivational strategies that memesdepend on to leverage their movement and spread within asocial body. Different social or communicativeframeworks place different constraints on the replicationand survival strategies of memes. Therefore differentsocial structures encourage and strengthen different memepopulations. It would be nearly impossible to imagine aFlat Earth meme spreading by space travel to a lunarcolony, for example.As previously mentioned, if you want to affect someoneemotionally, you should tell them a story. Stories are afundamental human invention that predates logic, and forthat matter appears to predate writing. Stories evolvedafter emotion and most likely came into being concurrentlywith language and consciousness. Stories fit neatly inbetween emotions and consciousness, and bind emotionalfeelings with a linear sense of time. Stories began as alinear arrangement of emotional triggers with a beginning,middle, and end. As humans, we are wired to cravecompleteness to our stories, and this craving is how youcan use a story to manipulate desire and behavior inindividuals. 126

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The Zeigarnik64 Effect, as discussed in chapter five,indicates that an incomplete task or narrative is retained inones memory until it can be resolved. By telling a storywith appropriate emotional triggers and leaving itincomplete in such a way that the only way to achievesatisfactory closure is for the audience or target to take aspecific action is a way to exploit this effect65. Thisunknown partial pattern is also the basis of hermeneuticcode, and both the semic and hermeneutic codes workbecause of the brains pattern recognition and its desire toclose the figure. Narrative is a primary pattern to theneuropathology of conscious thought. It is a pattern oflinear causative relations that is particularly compellingonce recognized as such. Cliffhangers, ongoing serializednarratives, and nested NLP commands all involve this kindof incompleteness that engages memory and cognitiontoward a specific end. Music in commercials often usesthis technique as well, and even ringtones represent thiskind of incompleteness and looping to alert the phonesowner to incoming calls.In this age of the Internet we are seeing a new narrativestructure, non-linear narrative pastiche, becoming moreprevalent than ever before. We can locate an audience and64 Bluma Zeigarnik, a Russian psychologist described this effect in 1927 in her paper “DasBehalten erledigter und unerledigter Handlungen” later translated as “On Finished andUnfinished Tasks.”65 This is not unlike the rhetorical use of enthymemes:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthymeme 127

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distribute bits of narrative in the form of a kind ofconceptual puzzle piece in places where we know they willbe observed. All the fragments must connect with someother fragments, and it must be possible to follow thesepieces back to an offer of completion, while retaining somevalue to the audience in and of themselves.Likewise, the whole pattern must somehow be of value tothe audience as a whole. As long as each piece isconsistent, the non-linear storyteller is building acorresponding pattern in the mind of the audience. Asthey discover their own path through the web ofsynchronicity they will come to the source of the narrativebecause of a compulsion to complete the puzzle, fill in theblank, track down the meaning, or otherwise engage themedia because of its discontinuous elements. Because ofthe involvement of the audience in actively gathering thesefragments, it is best to over-deliver on audienceexpectation should they successfully re-assemble thenarrative from these disparate fragments. That way thenetwork will be more liable to look for the nexttransmission, and generate that much more excitementwith the next endeavor. 128

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14Ownership and Self in Networked Spaces:We mentioned previously the commonly held myth ofevolution and its implications on how we perceive our ownplace in culture. Cyborg is not a robot, but a use of acybernetic system. It is flesh and machine, but thatmachine element need not be necessarily a physicalmachine—only a technical apparatus. We are all engagedin cyborg behaviors already. Currently there is a rathercontentious meme that essentially embodies the signal oftranscending biology, but it is our opinion that thisbiological transcendence is simply a coping mechanism forthe neurological augmentation of the individual throughtechnological means. In other words, transcendence hasbeen commodified as we begin to adopt cyborg technologyto transcend learned limitations of behavior and belief.Weve already touched on the emergence of a person as anintersection of a multiplicity of minds, moving beyond theidea of consciousness as equal to a body and a body as a 129

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singular individual. This means a person is a part of manydifferent larger minds, and these larger minds we havebeen labeling egregores or masterminds, depending onwhether we are analyzing the group mind or theindividuals who make up the group.At the same time, the egregore is not in total control either,as the action of the social or corporate body is determinedthrough the action of its parts, the individuals. These areintelligences that are emergent properties of the complexsystem that compose their bodies, and the individualpeople within these social or corporate bodies are not incontrol because they are constrained by the system inwhich they are embedded. As we augment our biologywith cyborg technologies, we will further adapt ourbehaviors to the larger networks in which we areembedded while gaining more control over our owninternal networks with comprise our physical presence.But where does this leave the mind? Lets return to thecomputer metaphor again, this time examining the relationbetween hardware and software. Hardware is themachinery and software the protocol that dictates theperformance of the machinery. Because the brain and thebody are adaptive systems, what is done with them nowhelps determine what can be done with them in the future. 130

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How you use your muscles determines how much musclewill be available in the future to use, and the brain hassimilar features. While some software comes pre-installed,for example your brain already knows how to direct yourheart beating, keep your lungs breathing, blink your eyes,all of which can be likened to the bios settings of acomputer. Of course, you can make changes to thesesettings later by learning how to modify your heartbeat, orregulate your breathing, or consciously go without blinkingfor extended periods.After this pre-conscious bios layer the mental operatingsystem is programmed. This other software needs to belearned when the brain is properly ready to absorb thatdata, such as learning to speak, defecate, swim, ride a bikeor knit a sweater. Of course, the earlier these bits ofsoftware are learned the more integrated that knowledgebecomes. This is why the programming we received inchildhood can be so difficult to change, because the bodyhas adapted to these ways of operating. Some researcheven suggests that memory is stored in muscle tissues, andfurther supports this integration of programming with thevery structure of a growing body. This gives a distinctadvantage to memes that get early exposure.In Programming in the Human Bio-Computer, Dr. JohnLilly explores the notion that the most important software 131

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within ones brain is that which governs our consciousminds relation to stored knowledge, a kind ofmetaprogram that frames past experience. This is theequivalence of web browsers, search tools, and anti-virussoftware on ones desktop. Self-reflective consciousnessseems to be one of these meta-programs, while empathyseems to be another.By monitoring what activities we are engaged in, we shiftwhich of our programs are used in different situations. Ifthis awareness is sustained for long enough, we can gain afairly accurate catalog of what programs we actually carry,and hence what memes we bear. It would not be acomplete catalog, because we may not encounter certainsituations, thus never triggering certain latent memes, andwhile journaling and reviewing ones habits will illuminatemost of ones psyche, there are always going to beprograms which we received that were never statedexplicitly to us but instead came attached as impliedassumptions embedded in other communications. (Inother words, memes that came to us as part of a nested orlinked structure like that described previously.)Therefore, a metaprogram of uncovering and examiningthe implicit assumptions in our activities or thecommunication we receive can be quite helpful indeveloping more resilient and profitable communications 132

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in the future. The first step is to become aware of theprogram. Look for gaps in your self-reflexive awareness orin what is covered in your journaling. Look for things youdo without knowing why or results for which that you cantfind an explicit cause. These gaps are the locations ofunconscious programs, and you should observe itsmovements and discern its patterns as they manifest inyour behavior. By understanding it, you can thenanticipate where you will see its influence next. This is thestage where you should sigilize this aspect or entity withinyour psyche.The hunter knows that understanding the patterns of thebeast he hunts is essential to capturing the beast andcontrolling its behavior. If he didnt know what marks itmakes as it moves, he couldnt follow it. If he doesnt knowwhat sequences it performs, he cant get ahead of it. If hedoesnt know what it feeds on, he cant catch it. Thisunderstanding applies to ideas moving through memespace as much as it applies to psychic bodies movingthrough ones pre-conscious mind or habits exhibited in apersons daily routine.The persona, the public self66, is a story created by the partof the self that calls itself I, describing the movements of66 In astrology, the rising sign is most closely associated with the persona, with the sunand moon signs roughly analogous to one’s conscious and pre-conscious self-image. 133

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the whole assemblage of ones psyche in terms of thevolitions and actions of the I. Factors acting on the partcalled I67 are pre-conscious drives and programs. Acollection of associated experiences, but when dealing withone consciously we dont experience the entire bundle.Instead, we experience or relate to an excerpt of the bundlethat stands in for the whole bundle of pre-consciousmotivators. Changing one’s internal motivations requiresidentifying them, then leveraging these componentsagainst each other, a practice familiar to magicians. Bearin mind that internal and external events in thepreconscious mind are undifferentiated, and that there isno linear progression of time in the preconscious, onlyvariations of psychic intensity. An intensely traumaticevent which happened years ago will remain more heavilyimprinted on behavior than some insignificant event whichtook place yesterday.Magicians have been using aspects of themselves asindividualized entities, a practice known as creating aservitor. These servitors are treated as spirits, and werecommend Mark Defrates 1995 essay68 “Sigils, Servitors,and Godforms” to get a feel for this technical language.When naming, we suggest that you use a symbol or a namethat has no pre-existing meaning so that you dont confusewhat you are tracking with that meaning, for example,67 Or really, any desiring machine parts other than the object “Me.”68 Available online at http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/sseg.php 134

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“Zugblot” will be easier to isolate than “Jealousy.” A veryimportant thing to figure out is what context or situationtriggers the program. One option of how to change thisprogram is to use a technique like recapitulation, accessingexperiences of when the program was first installed to thenoverwrite or replace that instance at the initial sourcepoint.In addition to inhibition and replacement techniques69,which can be likened to overriding or deleting installedprograms, you should also pursue a practice ofvisualization. Imagine a sequence of events, a patternyoud like to adapt, and visualize every step from thetriggers that initiate the pattern through to the outcomeyou desire. Visualize it both from an internal position aswell as externally, while working on increasing thevividness and intensity by including the sounds, emotionalrewards, and even the smells associated with this pattern.You will find that you are acting out the new pattern orprogram rather than relying on the old program as youdevelop this ability, although we advise that you dont stopusing visualization with your first success.Continue applying these techniques until youre made itthoroughly automatic, with a good rule of thumb being to69 Retroactive enchantment is one approach to achieving this goal, while specific forms ofsoul-retrieval can also be adapted to this kind of internal work. Friends have also adaptedDianetic auditing from scientology combined with self-hypnosis toward similar results. 135

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continue roughly as long as it took for you to achieve yourfirst successes. Again, this method is greatly enhanced byjournaling or other form of record-keeping. One suchalternate form of record-keeping that is possibly moreeffective than journaling for this kind of preconscious workis remixing and collage. Collage generally relates to visualand analog art, while remixing generally refers to digitalaudio and video work, but both are interchangeable termsfor the purposes of this process of recording internalchanges70.Your self is a system that takes input, or sensations, thenprocesses that input using feedback loops. Most of thesefeedback loops (but not all of them) are operated by yourbrain, and eventually you out-put actions based on theinput and the processing of that input. This is an analogyof ones self as a kind of black box. In order to changewhat you do and what happens as a result, there are threefactors to consider experimenting with, and, of these, inputis by far the easiest for you to effect, while the processingthat transforms sensation into action is the hardest. Onesoutput falls somewhere in between, as it is possible toconvert sensation into action yet restrain oneself fromperforming that action through discipline.70 We continue to promote collage work throughout this book because collage, byarranging pieces made of pre-existing media with a variety of materials into a newcohesive whole, is the same process of trimming, selecting, and arranging from variousavailable sources that the brain naturally utilizes to make sense of its environment as itdevelops. 136

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Begin by eliminating71 sources of input that seem to existpurely to engage you with the hegemonic status quo. Youmay choose to replace ordinary input with material fromspecific sources, and we also encourage you to spend atleast some time creating your own media to extend yourfeedback loops into an externalized space. This brings usto the second factor, your output. You are constantlyperforming some sort of action, and as such are outputtingsignals constantly. What we suggest is spending at leastsome of that energy in the outputting of creativelyproducing a recorded media.There is an immediate power shift which occurs when youchange from a passive media consumer to an active mediaproducer. It doesnt matter if this media takes the form ofdrawings, music, text, video, or some other form ofrecorded expression, so long as it remains accessible foryou to experience as input at a point in the future. Thatsaid, it is better for this experiment if what you are creatingis as unstructured, as close to pure output as possible. Forexample, if you sing it is best if they are your own songs,71 One author spent a year avoiding advertisements as much as possible, while consciouslyremoving or marking out any corporate logo present in his daily environment. Thisexperiment led to a kind of hyper-awareness of logomancy and its otherwise subliminaleffects, and led to a development of a personal theory about psychological space whichwent on to inform the bulk of the ideas presented in the appendix. The other authorspent years avoiding all network broadcasting, limiting video involvement to specificentertainment or privately distributed user-generated video which fell outside of themainstream media. In the technical descriptions of chaos magic, these are periods of“chaos monasticism.” 137

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and better still if you are improvising the lyrics as you goalong. Dont worry, you need not share this output withothers if you dont want to - it is important that youperiodically review these recordings.One of the best times to review this output is as inputbefore you begin another creative session. This allows youto begin to get a grasp on the hardest factor to control,your processing of the input. In part, you have alreadystarted to do this by changing your input and feeding youroutput back into yourself. You can supplement this bylearning various skills related to your forms of expression.As mentioned elsewhere in this book, media criticism is anincredibly useful skill to pick up no matter what your areaof creative expression and you will benefit from analyzingyour output with this in mind. Also useful would be someform of meditation practice and training to further developyour visualization abilities. It can also help to increase thetypes of media you are capable of outputting, orbroadening the range of languages you are capable of usingto express yourself. The more complex your ability tosignify, the more adaptable you become in yourinteractions with any given social network.An example of an important complex signifier incontemporary culture is money. It moves both towardspatterns of desire as well as away from pattern survival 138

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concerns. In tribal or primitive cultures survival anddesire is linked to community, and expulsion from thatcommunity is one of the greatest fears of the individual. Incontemporary society, people are already separated andboth desire and fear are linked to income, as well as linkedto roles such as jobs. With memetics, the overallconceptual system is evolving into one that takes intoaccount the biological and evolutionary basis of humanbehavior while linking it to memetic replication and bodilyor entity actions in terms of socioeconomic survivalpressures, micro-sociological interactions and nodalcommunication patterns.Each sub-system needs to be (and most likely is)thoroughly examined, while the interactions between thesesub-systems also needs to be mapped. These componentsare the primary sub-systems that determine humanityspersonal and social behaviors. As such, they structuresignificant portions of every individual’s interactions thatare based around the public self, or the persona. It is notthe sacrifice of the self we must achieve, but the sacrifice ofthe persona or projected false self. 139

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The persona is a rigid shell, a carapace constraining ourexperiences andbehaviors totraditionally acceptableways of manifestation(see figure). If youspend a significantamount of timeperforming some role,you become that personaand if you never breakup that role with otherroles that will eventuallylimit and define who youbelieve yourself to be,and that persona will instantly be triggered with the rightcontextual cues even if you do not want to enact that roleconsciously.As we break up and separate these kinds of programs thatrestrain us, we experience the separated pieces of ourselvespushing us in many contrary directions. This is a difficulttime, and it is not uncommon in this phase of growth toexperience a kind of insanity. Magicians have traditionallyreferred to this as the long dark night of the soul andthere is a great deal of contradictory advice out there onhow to deal with this period. Some people would advise 140

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you to push harder, to break on through to the other side.However, if you feel you cant go further we say be gentlewith yourselves. Stop pushing for a while, but do keep ajournal over this fallow period as it will help you integratethe experiences you have had until you feel it is time tomove forward again. All this painful work has animportant purpose. In cybernetics there is a rule called thelaw of requisite variety which states that the factor orcomponent which has the most options available to it alsohas the most control over any given interaction.This process of breaking a set pattern increases onesvariety and therefore ones power. As long as ourresponses are fixed and predictable, anyone aware of thiscan direct us like puppets. In short, this period ofsacrificing persona is what enables the self to develop atruer, freer range of expression.By creating media, be it writing, visual arts, music, or evenfilm, you are accessing your personal visions. Buildingupon that media, through successive iteration, in otherwords by evolving the media, you are further refining yourtechnical skill while deepening and strengthening thatvision which you are accessing. Weve been discussingpersonal evolution, but these techniques can be broadenedto causing change in the people around you and the worldin which you live. Constantly maintaining this feedback 141

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pattern will allow you to understand how you processstimulus, and will enable you to navigate the socialsituations in which you are involved more readily.While we feel that responsibly using these techniquesarises from developing ones personal evolution, activelychanging the world is a fairly simple proposition. All oneneeds to do is to release signals into the social networksaround you that correspond with the transformations youseek. You start by deciding what it is you want; whatspecific outcomes you desire. Isolating what you want isaccomplished by reviewing the records of your personalevolutionary process, and with those records at hand youcan construct the signals you wish to transmit, the memesyou wish to spread. Often artists and musicians areworking directly with their creative outputs to change thesocial structures within which they are embedded, and thismay very well be the route you choose to take in affectingchange.Of course, in a memetic ideosphere, self is created by aprocess of remix from the available memes. Sorting andselecting from the ideas available we create a compositethat we then act from, and by mirroring this processconsciously we can begin to understand the elements ofour psyche that would otherwise remain inaccessible.When music is remixed, the result is more music available 142

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to remix. The same applies to memes as a whole. It isinside of a persons self-constructing process that memesbreed and mutate. Selves evolve in a community of meme-sharers, and an iterative process results where the existingremixes are passed back and forth as the individualschange in response.By documenting this exchange and subsequenttransformation through collage or remix, a record isgenerated that can chart psychological development viavarious complex signifiers that encompass both languageand more abstract and iconic symbols. Take ownership ofyourself as an information processing and communicationdevice. Ownership implies we choose input and output,while generally the processing is harder for us to control72.If you dont own yourself, someone else does.Experiment:Think of something you enjoy owning and are proud to own.Remember what it feels like to see it and touch it, recalling thesensation of ownership. Concentrate on all the positive feelings youare brining into consciousness, and focus on intensifying thosefeelings. When those feelings are filling you, observe something youdont own. Extend the sensation to that object until you feel as if youdo own it. Pick a new object, practicing until you can "own"everything within your visual field. There might be a part of you72 And taking control of ones internal process likely voids ones warranty. - Wes 143

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which insists that you dont own what is just your environment. Thepoint of this exercise is to help you understand that your environmentis yours, and you do own it. After this session, ask yourself in writinghow this experience alters your perception of value and ownership.Notes: 144

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15Input/Output Balancing:So now we come to one of the most complex questions ofthe entire book, one only you can answer. That question isthis: What is it that you want? When you are starting totake responsibility for your inputs and outputs, when youbegin to alter your experience though applied memeticsand various magical techniques, this question becomesvery important. You want to change what you areexperiencing, and expand your ability to change situationsto your benefit, so you will need to understand not justwhat you want but why you want. Are these desires yourown or are they imposed upon you from an external sourceof some sort? This line of reasoning leads to morequestions, where did you get the idea this was a desire youshould experience? What are the consequences ofstriving to acquire these items, or to engage in theseexperiences? Should you achieve this desire, will it be toyour benefit or will it benefit someone else? 145

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This book is about a way to hack ones mind, world view,and experience. To do this, it is essential to be able toorganize existing cognitions and perceptions. Start byplacing your topic or area of interest in the center of apiece of paper. Draw a line out from this and write akeyword for a concept or item related to it. You can havemultiple lines coming out of any keyword, and the resultwill look vaguely like a spider web. This is what is called acluster diagram or a mind-map. Of course, manyvariations of this exercise are possible, and there aresoftware applications now online73 for mind-mappingexercises as well.Another useful tool is what Edward DeBono calledflowscapes. To construct a flowscape you decide on asubject matter then create a short list of factors involved.Ideally this list should be between ten and twenty-six itemslong. Take each item in your list and assign it a letter fromthe alphabet. Next, take each item and decide what singleother factor on your list it leads into, keeping in mind that itis okay if some items have more than one factor leading tothem. Draw each letter with a small circle around it anddraw its single arrow leading to the letter of the next factor.It will likely take some practice to make these flowscapes73 One such software is the open source program Freemind, available on Sourceforge.netat http://sourceforge.net/projects/freemind/ and there are a number of other not-so-free options out there as well. We prefer doing all of this by hand, however, and usuallyuse pencils and graph paper. 146

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neat and readable, but in time you will find that you caneasily create a map of a dynamic process.When using flowscapes, you will be able to discern wherea pattern is most stable and where in a pattern a smallchange will be enough to disrupt the entire process74. Youshould pay special attention to chains of events, feedbackloops, and points of collection, all of which will beillustrated below.These are only two ways to increase your intelligentoutputs. The intelligence increasing techniques of Dr.Wenger outlined in his book The Einstein Factor rely onthe mechanism of balancing input and output. Geniusesare not passive receivers of information but rather areprodigious outputters of ideas. This isnt to say that everyidea is good, but rather that self-censorship is an enemy ofgenius. Declare for yourself that you have the right toexpress your ideas and commentary on what youve takenin, because creative brainstorming relies on a period ofmassive production of possible approaches to a problembefore the best can be selected. The more ideas yougenerate, the greater the likelihood that one of those ideaswill have value.74 When we recommend analyzing an institutional body, this would be the preferredanalytical tool. 147

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Applying this same concept to social structures, we feelthat input-output balancing on the individual level and theinternet culture of individuals producing media forthemselves and others is a point of equivalent evolution,and suspect the internet is rapidly becoming a host for aculture of evolving intelligence. Groups following theprinciples of intelligence increase as laid out by Dr.Wenger would do so by producing various media inmassive quantities without the prior restraints of self-censorship, then feed this media back into their socialgroup where the best of the media is selected to publiclyshare outside of their social cluster.Mastermind groups were first brought to light thanks toNapoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, a classic nowin the public domain which put forth the notion thatsuccess came about through group dynamics. Today,countless people rely on mastermind sessions to formallydeclare intentions, seek support and advice, and advancetheir personal goals. Stitch-n-Bitch circles, book clubs,writer’s groups, covens, prayer circles, fencing clubs, lodgemeetings, advisory committees, and countless other socialcollectives share various elements of a classic mastermindsession. However, the most effective sessions are themost structured ones, where each individual has equalopportunity to present their own concerns and provideadvice to other members. 148

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Using a mastermind group to analyze feedback loops is anincredibly powerful tool, and we advise designingmastermind sessions consciously and with an eye towardregular meetings in the same environment to create aconsistency, which in turn helps support the group mind’ssynergistic effects.To reiterate, be selective of your input, capture youroutput, feed it back to yourself, and continue this processuntil you are comfortable with sharing your output with alarger audience. Declare your right to comment on all themedia that enters your life. Record this commentary,review it, and then comment and react to your own media.Release the best of your commentary to others. Begin totake this process of iterative production, selection, andfeedback to a mastermind group, and watch as ideasassemble themselves out of the raw material of yourexperience and the insight of the mastermind group.This is a kind of memetic autopoiesis, the mastermindgroup being the hardware for this program or pattern to runon. Masterminds are essentially laboratories for memeticconstruction. Each person within the mastermind groupwill generate unique material in relation to the media beinginput, as each person has a different mix of memeticcontent, processing capability, and life experience. As the 149

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ideas assemble themselves through the lens of the groupmind, those with the most vitality and appeal are morereadily discernable. What might appear attractiveinternally can become stagnant and stale to a group, whilewhat seems ludicrous and valueless internally mightbecome vibrant and profound with a few minor tweaks byother mastermind members. 150

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16Larger Group Dynamics:The Mayan control system is based on the principles oftime-binding, based on calendars, festival days, andseasonal changes. Language, or at least the standardlanguages, are linear methods of time-binding, andincreases the memory of a system while also effectingdecisions any given system may influence, and knowinghow to use this to structure society is a magic we’ve beencalling logomancy. The high priests knew what affectivestates people would pass through, and the physicalconditions that prevailed. The academic control factorsnow present rely on lab books for science, logbooks fornavigation, ledgers for business accounting, and otherforms of recording and structuring data75. Power is basedin the faculty of prediction, in knowing where something isgoing to occur and when. Science reads its lab books, spots75 Hermes, or Thoth, was not simply the god of magicians in Egyptian and Greekmythology. He was also god of writing, science, and judge of the dead. His counterpart,the goddess Ma’at, seems to have created Mathematics, but mathematics falls under therulership of Thoth as well. Together, they both are anthropomorphized embodiments ofthe force that Platos called Logos. 151

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patterns, and makes predictions. Because the Mayansystem was homeostatic the priest always knew what wasgoing to occur, thereby wielding power over their society.We are still subject to this control system of time-binding,as we are still reliant on the clock and we consume mediaaccording to a broadcasting schedule. If anything, todayswork world is more finely sliced time-wise than the Mayancalendar ever could have been. Marketers, politicalorganizers, and other social engineers are tracking,capturing, and controlling people right now, in a way verysimilar to the calendar keepers and logomancers of theMayan priesthood. They track the marks you make, howyou vote, the websites you visit, and where you spend yourmoney. They know your timetables; they feed you themedia you passively consume. Humanity was capturedlong ago by the meme of civilization, and ever sincecivilization has been working on humanitysdomestication.Domesticated animals are treated in a different mannerthan wild beasts. The emphasis shifts from finding andcapturing individuals to managing and controlling theherd. The herders hand down schedules to determine inadvance where the individuals will be, and when theyll bethere. They worry about tracking the herd in clusters, andas long as the individuals remain within the bounds theyve 152

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set, theyll overlook the intricacies of individualbehaviors. It is only those who stray out from the edges ofthe herd that the herders send the dogs after the loneindividual, although its important to realize in thismetaphor that even the dogs the herders send out aredomesticated. Domesticated animals are the mostpredictable of all, as even their straying are predictable so 153

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the herders eventually forget how to cope with the trulyunpredictable.Understanding this as a metaphor for social engineering,we can begin to see that we do have the ability to exploitthe conditions of our own captivity. As long as we appearto remain within the bounds of the herd we have a greatdeal of freedom in which to move, although should wemove too quickly, the herders may be afraid of us starting astampede. Still, so long as we know what signs they use totrack us and what patterns they rely on to predict ourbehavior; we can remain invisible to them as individuals.Finally, should we pick our moment and leave the herd at atime when they are not watching for strays, we can escapethe herd. Only through the knowledge of the ruling class,the herders, has tyranny ever been overthrown. The Jewswould have never left Egypt if Moses hadnt been raised asan Egyptian prince. The techniques of the persuaders andmanipulators are needed if we are to free ourselves, if weare to understand how we are bound to the systems, theschedules, and the cast-iron personae imposed by oursocial roles.Ironically, the way to freedom is to use the tools of controlon ourselves. This is why we must spy on our own actions;record our own activities, look at our own patterns, andcreate our own predictions. We must select and censor 154

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what memes we are exposed to, whom we associate with,and learn to control our own behavior.Of course, looking at life in this kind of metaphor for toolong will probably trigger a paranoid delusion, viewing allof reality as a virtual space constructed by our patterningbrains busy assembling fragmented signals and then fillingin the gaps between the connections of our associativenetworks. As our conscious experience lags behind theevents and actions of our lives, reality looks like anexplanation made up after the fact. However, a certainamount of life-as-game analogy does open up enormouspossibilities for triggering change in the world76. Whenattempting to effect changes on others using memetictechniques, there are many layers of organization you canconcentrate on, and many different angles of approach youcan use.You could look at the linear causative structure ofnarrative, or instead focus on the underlying networkstructure of association. You could work with the cognitivelayers of thought and emotion, or instead focus onpreconscious drives and desires. You could target theaggregate predictabilities of market segments or thespecific peculiarities of individuals.76 “Be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi 155

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Whatever you are attempting to accomplish, your signalshould be fine-tuned to affect its audience on the preciselayers you have targeted. Obviously, a communicationmeant to affect the drives and desires of a thirty-somethingaccountant will be totally different from on targeting thestyle story being told in the teen market.A meme needs to enter the human system by way of one ofthe senses. Its instructions must be encoded in a mannerthe nervous system can digest, and then act upon. For thisweve appropriated NLPs representational systems ofvisual, auditory, kinesthetic, and olfactory channels. Mostcommunication occurs beneath the layers of consciousthought because people are only able to be conscious of acertain percentage of the total sensory experience of anygiven moment in any given environment. Therefore, mostof the information or input coming in along these variouschannels is being absorbed by the preconscious mind on asubliminal level.This knowledge provides a few tricks for tweaking amemes capsid to be more easily ingestible and infective.We could begin by changing linguistic or non-linguisticcues to lead the potential receiver through a sequence ofsensory modalities, essentially training them in what NLPpractitioners term a strategy. We could elicit a particularemotional state and anchor it to our message or symbols. 156

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We could communicate incongruently to transmit differentmessages to different parts of a large audience. We coulduse contradictory messages to trigger a disassociative andsuggestible state in the potential receiver. Brainstormingon ways to manipulate or reframe the brand’s essentialmessage77 can be facilitated through watching how apolitical candidate or speaker presents their platform todifferent audiences.Ones position in an official system of governance is onlyone measure of that individuals political power. Thetotality of that individuals power can be figured byexamining the lines of communication they can access andtheir ability to predict responses and reactions to theirvarious transmitted signals along those communicationlines. The overall political power of the individual thenwould be an estimate of that individuals influence over thesystem of governance as a whole. This amount wouldchange over time regardless of their official position inreference to the signals sent out by that individual or byother components of the system in relation to thatindividuals signals. This angle of viewing provides adifferent account of politics than the textbook depiction ofgovernmental structure given in a civics class, andemphasizes transmitted messages and their reception overinstitutionalized chains of command.77 Marketers, see Mack, B. (2007) Think Two Products Ahead pp75-80 for a guide toextracting a brand’s essence. 157

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While we are primarily concerned with individualempowerment for our readers, and in particular helpingindividuals advance their own creative concerns78 we dorecognize the necessity of engaging with institutions oncorporate or academic levels. Here’s a short outline of asystematic approach to entering an institutional bodywithout being subsumed by the hegemonic force present asa result of the institution’s egregore.Entering and Utilizing an Institutional Body 1. Create and Analyze Network Map79 - doing this by hand helps bring latent or preconscious understanding to light 2. Identify Core and Periphery Sub-Networks - in general you start in the periphery group. 3. Watch Core Members dealing with periphery members. - look for signals of approval or disapproval in response to the actions of peripheral members. 4. Identify commonalities in behaviour of core group and approved periphery members behaviour. - look particularly at shared word choices, tonality, body language, and personal timing.78 See Appendix III, “Memetics for the Artist.”79 Using flowscapes as described in the previous chapter. 158

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5. Emulate group acceptable behaviour. - Start by emulating peripheral members that get approval signals. - Over time shift to emulating core member commonalities. 6. Inject desired behaviour changes. - While maintaining behaviour that garners approval signals slip in small behavioral changes. - Move slowly so you do not lose group approval.Personal messages motivate action more than impersonalones, but what criteria should you use to determine if amessage is personal or impersonal? If your messagecarries triggers for personal feelings and emotionalinvolvement, the receivers may react to it as a personalmessage even if it is delivered by a broadcast medium suchas network television. This explains, in part, the power ofsomeone like Oprah80, and helps explain why a book shementions or discusses on her show becomes a bestseller.She communicates the message that she relates to peoplepersonally along with every other message she may send.When the books she recommends become a part of the lifeof her viewers, through the purchase, reading, anddiscussion groups that invariably arise, that sustained80 Oprah would love this book, it totally helps empower people. - Wes 159

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contact with the recommended book reinforces Oprah as atrusted source. As a result, future recommendations fromOprah are judged on the basis of the viewers experiencewith the books previously experienced, and the growthgains a momentum which is compounded by the socialnetwork that grows organically around book circlesorganized at local levels. The messages that reach millionsof people feels like the recommendation of a close friend,even thought the vast majority of her viewers will nevermeet, or even see, Oprah in person. The illusion of Oprahsclose friendship is validated by the discussions herrecommendations have engendered with other Oprah fans,and those friendships which develop as a result remaingrounded in the belief, or the meme, that Oprahrecommends good books. 160

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17Elements of an Egregore:The Joker represents an egregore created out of thecollective effort of the writers, artists, and the attentiveimaginations of the readers over the last half-century ofthe Jokers existence. Where does the Joker live? Thequestion has different answers depending on which way weapproach the Jokers construct. He lives in Gotham City,he lives on the pages of comics printed by DC, he lives inthe minds of the writers, artists, and readers. He also hasmind share in those whove never read the comics, eitheras an archetype acted out by Jack Nicholson in the films,by Cesar Romero in the Batman television series from theSixties and voice acted by Mark Hamil in the cartoon showof the nineties.So while the Joker lives in Gotham City in that he is notwholly separable from his fictional narrative, to invoke theJoker is to bring up his associations. To bring up the Jokeris to bring up Batman, even if Batman is neither seen nor 161

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mentioned. The actions of the Joker are constrained by hispast behavior, as if he does something out of character thereaders wont believe the actions took place and futurewriters and artists of the Joker are likely to ignore thatepisode in the Jokers past when describing new actions.In comics, this is known as continuity, with events that falloutside of continuity being attributed to Jokers in alternateuniverses or simply never being referenced in later works.Egregores are first and foremost emergent intelligences ofan organization of people and the physical implementsthat carry out a specific egregores directives. Thisincludes the buildings, vehicles, and machines that peopleuse. A second layer of the egregores manifestation is thenetwork of relations between the people and the objectsthat make up the egregore, especially those lines ofcommunication that exist. A third layer of manifestation isthe protocol, the acceptable practices that direct theorganizations normal modes of functioning. 162

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All of these layers wrap around a core directive, the purpose of the organization, or in other words, what the egregore is trying to do. The protocol is how this goal is achieved, and is probably the layer where challenging and transforming the egregore is most easilyaccomplished, although each of these layers gives adifferent line of entry into effecting change in theorganization. The most common error made whendiscussing egregores is to focus on them as pure spiritualor astral intelligences while overlooking the physical partsengaged in physical actions that manifest this emergentintelligence. The Joker from the Batman is an excellentexample. If the Joker only existed on the pages of comicswe could not say that he lived, as he would be a staticobject rather than a dynamic archetype. If every page thatportrays him and every person that remembers him arenodes, and the patterns of interaction between these nodesare a network, then the Joker exists in the cyberneticspaces created by this network. The Joker lives because heis dynamic, he changes over time while continuing to 163

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exhibit a cohesive nature. Changes and new events occurin the context of remembered actions.Furthermore, we suspect that we are on the verge of apotential shift back to one of the oldest forms of writing inthe form of iconographic references, and that comics ingeneral have had a large part to play in this comingintegration of images and language. We are alreadycontrolling technology, televisions, computers, cellphones,and stereos by clicking icons, and as we attempt tocommunicate to people with many different languages wesee sequences of icons, or sequential art, aka comicsbecoming the lingua franca of the digital world.Memes are at the conversion point where the flow of desiretransforms into the actions taken, and attach themselves todesiring machines to motivate action. The body of thedesiring machine can be an individual person or anabstract metabiological organism such as an egregore, butno matter what form the body may take if you want it topick up and spread your meme you must include in thatmeme an appeal to the bodys needs. While it might bedifficult to comprehend what kind of meme you could offerto the Joker, (certainly not a fool-proof way to destroy theBatman egregore as they are both reliant on the other fornarrative existence) it becomes much easier to designmemes for corporate egregores who are motivated by 164

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liquidity and capital investments. Maslows81 hierarchy ofneeds is a good place to begin (see figure), and from thereidentify which of each needsthe memes fill for eachegregore.Of course, this assumes thatthe meme is a discrete entity,like a seed or spore that canlay dormant. Most markets demand a viral marketingstrategy to be a kind of epidemic manufacturing, but themost effective memetic work develops out of ground teamsseeding the psychogeographical spaces to which they haveaccess. A recent model of viral marketing that the authorsfind useful is the previously mentioned “Long Tail.” Thehead of the distribution full of the most popular memes isunder the category of Late and Early Majority, while thegoal for meme construction and fostering is to move thememe to the maximum population size. To do this thememeticist encourages the meme to move up the tail andmake the Early Adopters more rapidly motivate the EarlyMajority into adopting the meme82. This is where theSalesmen and the Connectors, discussed previously83,81 Maslow, Abraham H. (1968) Toward a Psychology of Being82 See the “Trend Growth” figure in Chapter 1. The long tail, as an ecological space formemes, is broken up into four categories: Late Majority, Early Majority, Early Adopters,and Innovators.83 See Chapter 13. To make the lesser (yet still significant) jump between innovators andearly adopters you are going to need to involve Mavens among your innovators, and theseMavens will need to be interconnected. 165

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become relevant. Eliciting the aid of these two classes ofindividuals can be achieved through external structures, orcan be engineered into the meme itself. 166

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18Internal and External Perceptions ofCybernetic Systems:Of course, every structure, be it linguistic like thosedescribed above, or a social institution, or a mechanicalstructure, a spiritual or psychic structure--every structureacts as a constraint on some behaviors and supportsothers. As William Burroughs says in The Job, "the pointis to apply what we have learned from one discipline toanother and not get stuck in one way of doing things."When you are navigating a memetic network, movingthrough associational spaces, each node is related directlyto other concepts at one degree of separation. By movingfrom related idea to related idea you can connect any twoterms. What changes is the number of bridging terms thatsuch movement requires. This navigating of the shamaniccyberspace is an intuitive art to leave in the least jumps.To the hierarchical communication tree of control, therhizomantic network appears as a clandestine path and a 167

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foreign growth, some sort of abstract fungus, or viralthreat.Linear sequence is an associational proximity, as a linearsequence is essentially an address tracing a path takenthrough associative space. It is a history of one possiblechoice, but not a necessary sequence. There are manydifferent schemas you can use to map out any givenindividuals approach to any given situation, but theMBTI84 and the interpersonal circumplex remain twofavorites of the authors. Of course, the Socionic typology isa four-dimensional sixteen category system, while thepersonality compass is a two-dimensional four-valuedsystem which theoretically can be expanded to an eight-dimensional model. People move around a lot more in Dr.Learys system as it is explicitly relational, and as a resultwe feel that the two-dimensional mapping of socialinteractions is more useful for cybernetic theory than thesocionic quaternary model, which seems more applicableto how individuals process their reality. Still, both arefunctional for understanding social interactions.It is the authors experience that it is much quicker tofigure out where people are on the InterpersonalCircumplex in a given situation than to determine theirMBTI so for short term interactions we prefer Dr. Learys84 Socionic or Myers-Briggs Types Index--see chapter four. 168

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system and for longer term relationships we would thenattempt to establish the MBTI or socionic type. Eitherway, typology is very useful for figuring out how varioustypes will react to a given communication. In general, acommunication is more powerfully affecting if it isgrounded in experiential details. Describing the sights,sounds, smells, and other sensations of life brings a feelingof immediacy to any communication. Except for specificpurposes where it is useful to be disassociative andabstract, you should include multi-sensory details in all ofyour signals85.The point of your signal is to affect reaction in youraudience, to insert your experiences into theirconsciousness so that your desires then become theirs.Your art and output is not simply a matter of selfexpression when you are engaged in magical acts, its morethan a representation: it precipitates action. Knowing whoyour audience is and what they want is the first steptoward getting that audience to take the action you wantthem to take. In this vein, let’s examine the example of thebread store that just went out of business.Seeing as the bread store was already a food store, theyshould have had more options for consuming their85 Dont just provide a recipe; give your audience the warm yeasty smell of your freshlybaked bread. 169

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products, such as tables and drinks. They lost businesswhen they stopped making pizza buns, a cheap option sothat people who were reticent to buy their premiumproducts could start smaller and over time grow attachedto their brand and product line.They could have had daily specials and surprises toencourage people to come in and check out the store stockon days they normally wouldnt have gone inside. A boardor placard advertising specials to the street would havealso helped transmit signals to those nearby that therewere innovative products inside for special prices. Thesekinds of ideas can be abstracted into any system or pattern,injecting flexible behavior where otherwise entropy mightstifle growth.By setting your will out in a form that you can refer to, byexternalizing it in a real and concrete way, you haveinitiated a sequence of associative triggers. To fulfill yourwill, your job is to follow these trigger associations throughthe paths of synchronicity that they indicate, and act onthese triggers. If your intentions are positive, thenfollowing these triggers will bring more positive change.Of course, the opposite is true as well, and it takestremendous energy to stop a negative intention frommanifesting. Framing an event as positive or negative canhelp refocus your intentions if things begin slipping out of 170

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your control, but no amount of framing will substitute foraction if action is necessary.If you want a system to evolve in a particular directionthen you want to constrain the options available to thatsystem that it can select from as it moves forward throughtime. Constraints determine in which direction any givenprocess may develop, so carefully controlling a systemusually means observation and patience of a situation orsystem. Think of growth patterns in communication asbeing similar to tying up a vine. You dont need to force itto grow upwards, but you do need to give it a nudge hereand there and provide it with a structure on which toclimb. In the same way, you need to know what memesalready inhabit a social space86 and how to leverage yourmemes off of those existing memes across thecommunication network for your intentions to come tofruition. Just like internal psychic work, the primarycomponent for effective evolutionary progression is theinclusion of a factor of memory or recording. Thisrecording must be partial and over-writable, to allow for akind of perpetual flux. There is an inherent power inbehavioral flexibility that comes with understanding that a86 Both public and counter-public spheres of discourse are social spaces, even subalterngroups have their own internal networks that influence the larger social spheres. Thatwhich cannot be referenced in public discourse will find its expression elsewhere in thesocial spaces of a culture. A quick primer on how subalterns form outside of thehegemonic power structure is available viahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaltern_(postcolonialism) 171

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system in stasis can be out-maneuvered by a system whererandomness and decentralization is a central component.On an individual level, behavioral flexibility can be taughtto oneself as a way to escape confining language.Whenever a language makes a thought unthinkable,consider revising the symbolic set you’re relying on andthink in a different language. The language you are taughtis one of the primary programs that control you, and alsoone of the hardest embedded programs to see beyond. Tomove past this nearly invisible restraint, you need to firstacknowledge that it is a restraint. Then you should beginto catalog what is implied by the language in which you arethinking that prevents you from perceiving to totality ofwhat is actually possible.Linguistic training can help you learn a new way ofinternal and external expression and with each differentlanguage come correspondingly different assumptions andlimitations. Often an initiatory experience carries with itthe adaptation of a new set of language, and with it a newsense of possible approaches to any given problem. (Thisis another example of language as technology.)Lets also differentiate between private language andpublic language. While language used within a public 172

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sphere must necessarily contain mutually agreed-upondefinitions, language used internally, or that which is usedwithin a counter-public sphere need only be defined by theneeds of the individual or the subaltern87 group. Theselanguage usages are a parallel form of discourse whichenables ideas and discussions that are impossible within apublic language, either as a result of linguistic constraintsor political liabilities inherent in the word definitions.Such subaltern counterpublic spheres of discourse alsoserve as a similar memetic pool as mastermind groups,although they exist as a result of marginalization by thepublic sphere rather than as a result of deliberateformation.In these instances, private language tends toward asobjective a description as possible of what is being defined.Both the metamodel of NLP88 as described by JohnGrinder and Richard Bandler and E-Prime as described byDavid Bourland, Jr89, are examples of private languageused as technology. Public language can be refined to beused as a tool of influence, mis-direction, andmanipulation. Such a refinement might include binaryoppositions and hooks both emotive and evocative. NLPs87 Calhoun, Craig, Ed. (1992) Habermas and the Public Sphere pp 109-142: Nancy Frazer’s“Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually ExistingDemocracy” provides an excellent starting point in understanding the function of thesubaltern.88 Dilts, R., Grinder, J., Bandler, R., and DeLozier, J., (1980) Neuro-linguistic ProgrammingVol. 189 Bourland Jr, D. David and Johnston, Paul D., Eds (1991) To Be or Not: An E-PrimeAnthology 173

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Milton model and various advertising copy can serve asexamples, and overloading speech with words like shouldand is will also build up a reactive pressure in onesaudience.Public language of this sort would be most effective on thatpersonality type identified by Eric Hoffer90 as a “TrueBeliever.” True Believers are generally unhappy with theirlot in life and seek to place blame for this unhappiness onsome external pressure. This leads them to also seeksolutions to their problems in outside sources as well,leading them to support massive change in the socialorder. They can easily be led to denigrate the present andplace all their hopes on the future, while simultaneouslybeing manipulated by depictions of the past that validatethe belief structure theyve internalized. These proclivitieslead the “True Believer” into joining mass movements andsacrificing their present selves for the movements future.Those who find public language to be crass, mundane, andgenerally ineffective in motivating them are those whomost benefit from developing private language. They tendto have a strong sense of self situated in the present, andwho feel responsible for their own actions and happiness.Bearing in mind that we only ever learn through oursenses, wed like to share with you a strategy for speed-90 Hoffer, Eric. (1963) The True Believer 174

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learning that involves developing private language usingan illustration from aikido. You watch your instructorperform a technique without internal dialog and with greatattention the movements being demonstrated. Then youpractice it, concentrating on the proprioceptive91 feeling ofthe movements. Because of habituation, if you do notfocus intently on the internal dynamics and feedback of themovement, you will very quickly be unable to track suchproprioceptions, so it is imperative that you focus on thisinternal perception from the outset. You work on it until itfeels like the instructor looked, until the movements areeasy and smooth. Later you can anchor the movementwith the sound of its name, until the verbalization and theaction occur simultaneously.Finally, lets examine the idea of a multimind92 in relationto the concept of the mastermind. The multimind is thenon-unified parts and separate processes that run theactual work of mental cognition. An example of this is sub-personalities, elements and triggers that form specificresponses that make up an overall personality structure.91 Proprioception is the awareness of internal, muscular systems at work. Being aware ofthe movement of muscles, the heart beating, or one’s lungs working is a proprioceptiveawareness.92 Ornstein, Robert. (1986) Multimind 175

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Mastermind93 groups are something of an externalizedexample of what, internalized, and would be called amultimind. Each structure is built upon the ones beneaththem and the reflexes rest upon the construction of thebody. Frequently you can manipulate a layer by acting onthe one beneath it. The protocols of the multimindidentified are largely involved with determining whatinformation is passed up the structural levels of thenervous system. Heres something of a breakdown of themultimind structures and protocols: I. Structures 1. Conscious level: I, Me, spatialization, narratization 2. "Small minds:" Sub-personalities and combinations of talents and modules 3. Talents: Activating, informing, smelling, feeling, healing, moving, locating/identifying, calculating, talking, knowing, self-governing 4. Domain-specific data-processing modules93 As previously discussed, Mastermind groups are nodal points for group mindconsciousness. The multimind is a breakdown of the structures and protocols of one’spersonal consciousness. While we’re not declaring this as a conclusion, we do feel thatusing the multimind model as a way to evaluate a group mind at least provides a startingpoint for future innovations in artificial intelligence, conflict resolution, and personalefficiency. 176

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5. Reflexes, set reactions, basic neural transformations II. Protocol 1. Sensitivity to recent information 2. Emphasis on vivid or higher resolution information 3. Simplifying by comparison, metaphor, and analogy 4. Focusing on meaning and relative valuationsProtocols tend to be system-wide and are always active,while the structures flow back and forth with differentstructures being active at different times. Where groupmind synergy creates a synchronic egregore capable offocusing its intent through individuals, the multimind isthe complex interactions occurring beneath the surface ofconsciousness that allows an individual to retain theappearance of consistency and continuity. Furthermore,as the internet has become an extension of the nervoussystem of an individual, and thus one of the structuresreferenced within a multimind model as well as acommunication network for masterminding and egregoric 177

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manifestation, the multimind and the mastermind arecapable of communing outside of any given individualsconscious awareness.Taking this back to the political analogy, the real power inthe United States during the events of 9/11 wasntPresident Bush, it was the people behind Bush like KarlRove and Paul Wolfowitz who were counseling thePresident on what to say. You can achieve power foryourself without exposing yourself on a soapbox byconvincing someone else to speak for you. You dont haveto do it all; you can coach someone on what to say.Truthfully though, you dont need to treat the speaker as apuppet, instead ally yourself with people who have a placefrom which to speak, as they may be looking for what tosay. Together you are more than you are separately.Wed like to point out that this comes full circle with theseed text of the mastermind group movement. In Thinkand Grow Rich, Napoleon Hills book which explained themasterminding process, he advises creating an internal,visualized mastermind group for those who cannot findindividuals with whom to work. In short, he wasproposing creating an internal mastermind, whichessentially brings the multimind together consciously tobreak down and analyze problems. In short, become amastermind group either internally or with others to start 178

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using group synergy and learn to develop thatmanifestation that is more than the sum of your parts.Who can truly say if anyone does anything deliberately?Any happening is an individualized response within arhizomatic network94 constructed from various elementscoming together in relation to each other and acting outtheir natures. To whatever degree we influence any givensituation we should be working to find the rightcomponents to fall into the arrangements that lead to ourdesired results.Correspondingly, results are a matter of the synergy of theprocess. Small differences in the composition of a groupcan lead to big differences in the groups eventual output.What is wrong in one context can be exactly what is neededin a slightly different context, and occasionally all thatneed be changed is the sequence or timing of actions. Thetrick is to reject nothing, but rather find where and whenyou can apply those resources at your disposal. Eachcontext also applies its own game rules to people in thosecontexts. Someone playing by those rules is a memebearer within a subjected group. Each individual has twodistinct power levels within each context, what they cando, and what the contexts rules allow them to do. People94 A rhizomatic network is one with multiple, non-hierarchical entry and exit points:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizome_(philosophy) 179

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who work together within a context to subvert or ignorethe rules are often labeled as revolutionary or criminal,and depending on the social forces in play can be severelypunished if they are caught.One type of magic comes from a detailed understanding ofthe rules of any given context. By knowing when to use therules, when to bend them and how to get away with notfollowing the rules you can rearrange the context to yourliking. As there are nearly always implied or unconsciousrules for a given context, most people will not notice orwork with these rules in the way that one whos analyzedthe context or situation thoroughly.Three Brain-Balancing Exercises:1. Practice singing or rapping on a particular topic, trying to focuson rhyme, melody, and rhythm. Do not rely on memorized materials.Record yourself so you can go back later and look for unexpected orunintentional utterances.2. Describe in present tense spontaneously arising mental imagesusing concrete detail in all five senses to a recording device or apartner. With practice this can be applied to precise recollection ofmemory and dream, and involves accessing all forms of memory. 180

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3. Touch-typing. While any skill can be practiced with the non-dominant hand, touch-typing in particular can rapidly develop one’sability to send signals to both hands simultaneously.Notes: 181

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19Transmedia Narration and ModularExposure:In 1998, a film was released that depicted a group ofcampers lost in Pine Barrens, who eventually are murderedand the evidence which remains in the form of damagedreels of tape. Shot in a documentary style entirely ondigital film, this was the first movie to be theatricallyreleased digitally via satellite to theaters across the UnitedStates. The name of the film was The Last Broadcast, andwhile the ideas in the film were somewhat compelling, itwasnt until The Blair Witch Project came out thefollowing year that The Last Broadcast gained muchnotice, mainly because it is quite obvious in retrospect thatthe makers of The Blair Witch Project had seen andappropriated a number of ideas. That didnt stop TheBlair Witch Project from becoming the transmedia95 hit of1999. That The Blair Witch Project was one of the firstsuccessful transmedia stories that leveraging the abilities95 Jenkins, Henry (2006) Convergence Culture pp. 101-103, sidebar. 182

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of the Internet, early search engine optimizationtechniques, and the natural inclination of social groups. “What we learned from Blair Witch is that if you give people enough stuff to explore, they will explore. Not everyone but some of them will. The people who do explore and take advantage of the whole world will forever be your fans, will give you an energy you can’t buy through advertising… It’s this web of information that is laid out in a way that keeps people interested and keeps people working for it. If people have to work for something they devote more time to it. And they give it more emotional value.” - Ed Sanchez, Interviewed by H. Jenkins, Convergence Culture 96Now, with the increased sophistication of the net and itsusers, a more evolved approach to substituting local mythswith embedded narratives becomes a good deal morecomplicated and it is doubtful that The Blair WitchProject, if released in the same way today would have thesame groundbreaking effect. However, some of thetechniques will always be effective, and alternate realitygames like those outlined in the aforementioned book This96 See the suggested reading list in the back of the book for a wealth of follow-upmaterial. Henry Jenkins work, in particular, can provide an excellent starting point inunderstanding trends in contemporary media culture. 183

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Is Not A Game by Dave Szulborski have relied on similarways of spreading buzz via online social groups. With afew of these ideas as a basis, a marketing construct that isinterwoven with the narrative sequence of the filmicfootage can be generated that can easily capitalize on itsindependent and filmic qualities.Using low production costs and values, footage taken frommultiple devices like phones, digital video cameras, closed-circuit television systems, news footage, and web cams astoryline can be generated online which has the feel of areal sequence of events. These video elements would thenbe played back with overlying narrative in an actual filmicrelease, requiring fans of the online footage to sit throughmultiple viewings of the final film product to satisfactorilyanswer all of the questions the bits of online footage andmedia had raised.While The Blair Witch Project relied on various horrortropes to heighten tension, we feel that plenty of other filmgenres are open to similar types of transmedia storytelling.It is this act of assembling the footage prior to the movie-going experience which seems to reveal a specific sequenceof events, and only by attending the film would the entirenarration reveal the other, underlying pattern.Throughout the film, events are shown which areinterpreted through the narrative in one way, but when the 184

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film reaches its climax the viewer suddenly perceives theevents of the film97 in an entirely new light.We can expect this kind of narrative to become moreprevalent as writers and creators experiment with thecapabilities the internet has opened up within the lastdecade. Now the question isnt if this transmediastorytelling will occur, but rather what can the onlinefootage contain that is compelling enough to cause thosewho encounter it online to begin archiving and studyingthe footage. The answer will become the storyline of boththe marketing prior to the film and the twist within thefilm that motivates film-goers to second and thirdattendances, even if they had not previously encounteredthe online footage. In short, the marketing must becomeas compelling as the product in the networked world,because attention is now an economy of its own.97 An example of another film which uses non-linear narration to good effect is The UsualSuspects. 185

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20Pre-conscious Cognition and the Writer:So weve covered a good deal of ground now, fromexamining construction and distribution of memes toexploring how group minds come into being. Weveexamined how to distribute signals and discussed thepower dynamics of information and the overlappingdomain of marketing, magic, and masterminding. Nowlets backtrack a bit and examine how to program yourpreconscious mind intentionally. Your preconscious mindneeds precise goals which it interprets literally, and thosegoals should be upgraded regularly. Your preconsciousmind also retains memetic content indefinitely, and soonce a meme is embedded it will continue influencing youuntil it is deliberately altered or removed. Likewise, once ameme is dissolved from your preconscious mind you willno longer have the result of that meme present in your life.By keeping a record (be it journal, collage, series of tattoos,etc.) you can track the directions of the preconsciousmotivators. 186

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The preconscious mind is driven by emotional energy tomove along specific pathways, acting on the dominantmemetic structures. Those structures are put into placethrough repetition, which is a replication of action. Whatyou believe determines how you imagine, and whatsymbolic structures you access while imagining. Wevealready discussed how the preconscious mind isnt effectedby the passage of time (when you picked up a meme), butrather by the intensity or resolution of a meme. As yourbeliefs are the very currency of a memetic economy, andbelief constrains the patterns imagination can take,monitoring your imagination and critically thinking aboutwhy your imagination follows specific vectors consistentlywill help you identify the belief structures that limit yourcreativity.Previous experiences will always be repeated unless theimagination is properly engaged, because those patternsare already in existence internally. Once the imagination isengaged without the constraints of belief, you can begin tobe selective about adopting or generating new memestructures. Once engaged, new memes require anincubation period to properly unfold and becomedominant, during which time problem solving and goalachievement is being pre-consciously calculated. Thisprogramming of the preconscious mind is very 187

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straightforward, and throughout this text weve beenexploring the various methods that can be used as well asthe theory behind these practices.The best results will come from clearly believable andattainable goals which elicit a strong emotional reaction.Begin by specifying all the details of the goal in clear andunambiguous language. The end results should be clearlyvisualized, and creating a tangible representation of thisend result to be a focus for visualization is incrediblyuseful.Daily visualization that resolves around having the goal (asopposed to needing the goal) creates a resonance with thesubconscious mind and triggers events that will lead you toyour desired result. Celebrating successes along the way isreinforcement even more powerful than using positiveaffirmations, as affirmations can trigger unconsciousresistance to the statements98. Over time, the visualizationshould be made more and more immediate throughsigilization techniques.During visualization, isolate and identify beliefs or memestructures that interfere with the stated goal. This has a98 Repeating affirmations you simply don’t believe causes resistance each time you repeatthem. It’s much more productive to start with affirmations you occasionally find yourselfbelieving to begin with, focusing on moving toward your goal organically, rather thanthrough immediate, catastrophic changes. - Wes 188

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two-fold effect, establishing confidence toward achievingthe goal while also debugging the memeplex you areintentionally installing in your pre-conscious mind. Chaosmagic has presented the innovation of what is calledSleight of Mind techniques. This is a way of encrypting asignal so your deep mind gets the message without theconscious mind blocking or interfering with the messagescontent. Fiction also offers many ways to encipherinformation or intent, but is a very limited view of whatnarrative magic can be.A story is a structure overlain on the chaos of fragmentaryevents. Even though the passage of time appears to us aslinear, we apportion meaning by means of association.The text is a focus for causing an event, in the same way apoppet or a voodoo doll is a focus for an individual.However, a text can be manipulated in ways that a poppetnever could.Writing is just the generation of words, like life generatesmemories. Editing is the main event; its the sorcery thatgives the writing form and meaning. A reporter writes atale meant to be a picture of an event, and ones readershiptakes the text at face value as a depiction of what hasoccurred. A reporter who writes a tale of an event thatnever happened or that distorts the event has changedwhat happened. As far as anyone who wasnt present at 189

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the event is concerned, the article is what happened, unlesssome contradictory evidence should appear to challengethe article. Even people who were present at the event mayeasily remember the event differently in reaction to thearticle. Life is not a static thing, but a published text isstatic. As long as the writer is playing with the material, aslong as the text is being written and edited, there is arelationship between the writer and the text99.For many writers of fiction, myths remain a potent sourceof inspiration. Myths are like charts or maps, but ratherthan mapping geographical space they map intensitieswithin the collective unconscious. While they map interms of consciousness, we also need a material space-timecoordinate to find our way, and this is why comparativemythology and symbology100 is important. The magic andinfluence of the text is in this relational stage, where thetext can influence the writer in direct proportion to theemotional investment the writer has in the text. Once thetext is done, and static, it goes on to influence the readersbut for the writer the magic ritual is complete and the textis a talisman resonating with the energy the writer hasinstilled into it. Too often the purpose of writing is taughtto be the telling or showing of a story, a representation of ascene or a situation. However, this is not the most99 Burroughs, William and Odier, Daniel. (1974) The Job100 Processual symbolic analysis, or comparative symbology, refers to the study of symbolsused within cultural, or more specifically ritual, contexts. See Turner, V. (1974) Dramas,Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society 190

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effective approach to take if your purpose is to affectchange in the reader and change their experience,especially if the reader in question is also the writer andthe editor of the text. As a writer, you are using words likebuttons to be pushed, triggering the readers ideas, actions,and emotions. When you edit, your goal is to make sureeverything in your text is consistently reinforcing the effectyou intend to create. The plot, the diction, and thecharacters all must work together. Writing is the scienceand art of causing change in the reader to occur inconformity with the will of the author and editor. We mustdecipher these myths by examining the metaphoricallanguage, which then provides the key to harness the flowof intensity hardwired into our beings by this collectiveunconsciousness.We are things of parts, assemblages of selves, and byreordering, rearranging, and experimenting with our sub-selves in relation to points of intensities revealed by myth,we can interact with these flows and direct ourselves alongnew vectors. Without being able to set our own coursethrough these flows, we remain at their mercy, reacting tomythic resonances without understanding why, controlledby those who do know how to capitalize on theseembedded energies latent in the collective unconscious.For a fuller view of the power of narrative magic, it helps toreturn to the idea of a character within a fictional context 191

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with you as the writer. Characters have minds of theirown. Whether they are a part of the author or somethingentirely separate is nearly impossible to determine,however as they have a mind of their own it is perfectlyreasonable to develop a working relationship with them asa writer. Put them through the ringer; make themencounter situations that allow them to develop so you canlearn from their reactions and experiences. As a writer, youhave control of their environment and the situations theyface, but you should also allow the characters to respondnaturally through your fiction. By learning how fiction andstory can drive changes in a character, you can also learnto apply these same story techniques to your ownexperience. Ones life is, after all, made up of the storieswe tell ourselves.Exercise:Write out a story, or at least a description, of the idealized version ofyour life. Write this in third person, seeking to objectively portraywho you ideally would like to become. By then creating a storylinearound this character, you begin building a model in your mind ofhow you might become that character. (Return to this exerciseseveral times a year for best results).Notes: 192

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21Not Everything is Equally Interconnected:New social machines are fascinating for two reasons. Oneis the observation of a machine as a tool or object forachieving a purpose, and the other is the automation ofthis object of mechanical operations. Society is a machinein both of these senses; specifically it is a human-relationmachine. On the one hand it was formed as a toolfacilitating human interaction and cooperation. On theother it seems to situate human interaction as mechanicalrelations and humans as parts of this social machine. Thenetwork is a social machine. Out of the network, the nextmachine to arise is the interest group. They either share atopic or share a goal, often both. They share a vector ofmovement and have intentionality in common whichprecipitated their formation. Out of these interest ortopical groups form trusted groups. At the fundamentallevel the trust group is that subset of an individualsnetwork connections that the individual trusts withabstract or concrete representations of value that the 194

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individual does not wish available to the network as awhole.At this layer, individuals can interconnect their trustgroups so that you can have groupings where each memberknows and trusts each other member. Interest groups andtrust groups are built on the same network principle butare independent of each other, although they can alsooverlap with each other. Trust groups that are the same asinterest groups and have all the same members areincredibly powerful and are what weve been callingmasterminds, and which exhibit emergent egregores. Theycan work together towards the goal or topic-interest thatthey share in common. This is the group that is in aposition to act rather than be acted upon. Hopefully thisbook will help you create such a group, and help transformthe rest of the network in a positive way.Lastly, it is imperative that we emphasize that whileeverything is interconnected, not everything is equallyinterconnected. There are numerous walled gardens bothin culture and online, where you will be unable to influenceor even access those within those areas. Language barriersand geographical distance also restricts access to networks.You must begin by using the tools at hand, the networks atyour disposal, and develop from there. Trees dont grow 195

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overnight, nor will your influence within your personalnetwork.However, over time, the combined force of intention andgroup dynamics can take root and transform the landscapewith the seeds of change you and your mastermind groupengineer. In this book we provide you with some veryspecific techniques. View memetic construction as a wayof constructing sigilic webs, or as a method of cyberneticengineering, and find some lab partners. Get a handle onthe power of integrity within a pattern, and trycommunicating with others over multiple interfacessimultaneously with the intention of increasing creativity,and see what develops. Change something simple, like theroute you take to work each morning, and document howthat influences changes in other patterns.Simple steps lead to great new places. Mastering even afew of the ideas in this text will improve many aspects ofyour personal growth, your professional life, and thegeneral health and welfare of the social groups withinwhich you network. 196

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I.Imaginal Time and the Construction of SigilsStudying occult arts is dangerous only to those who have avested interest in seeing you remain the same. There isntany such thing as supernatural - all things that occurhappen within the realm of the natural. So the occultiststask is puzzling out the secret knots by which this reality isbound - understanding both the mechanics of reality andthe mechanism by which mind, unfettered, can untie thesesecret knots or bind up new ones.The adaptation of satanic imagery to magic is a relativelyChristian phenomena - but the supplication of aparishioner to a saintly or divine force is just as magical.Transubstantiation is socially acceptable cannibalistictheater and this kind of theophagy occurs in manydifferent traditions. This is quite possibly the real reasonthat our culture has produced vampire and zombiearchetypes, the symbolism of the blood of Christ has cast a 198

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shadow. Any ritual theater gives its shadow equal power,so these doctrines writ large on a society produce acorresponding harmonic negative manifestations canutilize.I believe the soul you possess is determined by the pathyou walk, and to alter your course requires that yousacrifice who you are to whom you can become, or itrequires you to subsume yourself to some greaterarchetypal force and act as its avatar in the phenomenalworld. The pragmatic approach is to engage withexperience, then apply experience to signifying intent. If itcan be used, then it can be understood. Knowledge,information, is a new ordering, or a reformation, ofignorance. Ignorance can be thought of as a formless void,a place of not-as-of-yet. When knowledge takes up spaceinside, the ignorance is re-arranged to be meaningful.This formation is a physical reality, and takes place withinthe protein strands that make up the cell walls ofneurological tissue. Cab drivers in London have beenshown to manifest larger sections of their brain becausethey have to memorize such an impressive array ofbewildering and contradictory information, then navigatethrough it. That which is known never becomes unknown,but it can become inaccessible. The brain being what it is, acrucifixion of matter and energy upon which consciousness 199

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writhes, it can move along axis in time that are un or pre-physical. But how do you get there, and what do you dothere once youre there? Kundalini yoga promises to makethe bio-energy field of a mortal some kind of super-conductor and the easiest way to understand any of this isto look at Alex Grays Sacred Mirrors.There are assumptions we make based on our previousexperience, one of which is that 2+2 always equals 4.Another is that 2+2 immediately equals 4. A friend of mine(with a mental clarity I myself lack) pointed out that 2+2 isonly 2 2s until theyve been rectified to 4 (or 10, or 11)through the passage of time. But 2+2 does equal 4 onpaper, and continues to do so over and over after it iswritten, wherever it is written, for each and every incidentin which 2+2=4 is signified. Thus, the period, or time blipof 2+2 equaling 4, is happening in a concurrent abstractimaginal time which shadows our time stream, much inthe way the electronic reality of telephones, telepresence,and the juggernaut meant by thee "world wide web"parallels our own malkuthian physicality. If this shadowtime exists, and it is the place where math occurs, then itmust also be the arena of bind runes and logograms. It isthe sphere of logos, the eighth sphere of the ancientsheaven. 200

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Another friend of mine would argue that 2+2=4 (or 10, or11) happens instantaneously, that a number line isessentially one-dimensional space, and only in the mostarcane religious sense could one expect some underlyingparallel reality to exist where numbers play with eachother. As a materialist, hes convinced that if somethingoccurs, it is in no way related to some abstract world offorms riding concurrent to our malkuthian realm, butinstead comes about through some primary purpose, alongwith a host of secondary agents all quantifiable by physicalmeasuring. 2+2 equals 4 because 2+2 always is 4, there isno prior point to 4 during which 2+2 is in the action ofbecoming 4.To begin, time moves in periods. A period is a "place" ofoccurrence. The period is what is initiated in a ritualsetting, for the ceremonially minded. From opening tobanishment is one period of time. It can help tounderstand where imaginal time occurs before weprogress, which brings us to the concept of the perfectworld of forms - the idea being that theres only One of anyone group of like things, and that it isnt there in themundane world, only in the abstraction thought of whenwe reference a specific noun in conversation. This perfectform existed in Mind alone, where Mind is the perfectmind of all those thinking about that perfect form. 201

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Imaginal time, or shadow time as some writers havereferenced, occurs in this perfect world of forms. It isthrough operations in imaginal time that new One thingsare created, other One things are comprehended, and evenmore important, some One things are cut away. Everyonehas their own private time, their own private symbolicgarden in which these One things are clustered, and carefulpreoccupations can direct the inner gardener to which towater, which to cut apart. But to engage in magic is to findthe collective source from which mankind culls meaning,and directly applying sigilic techniques to the energy of theas-yet-unmanifest. Using certain substances has the effectof placing any random individual, prepared or not, into aplace where they are effective magicians until thatparticular state of consciousness fades.However, these states of consciousness are accessiblethrough a number of techniques, and often what we thinkof as magical texts are instructions in achieving thesestates of consciousness through different methods.There are demons who have become so through renamingof gods... thus Astarte becomes Ashtoreth, boshet (orshame) bestowed upon her by magicians (priests, not evilones but Levi ones) and the same happened to Baalbecome Beelzebub by adding zebub (or flies) to his name.Essentially, they dipped into the imaginal bubble where 202

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Baal meant lord, and garbled the code to make Baalunworshipful. Yeah, I know Im playing with semantic firehere, but the cultural effect is now that by calling uponAshtoreth you are communing with a decadent godform, agodform mutilated by opposing forces. Youd be better offtrying to commune with Astarte - only shes mostly gone,all her energies subsumed by Ashtoreth in the collectiveunconsciousness.The ability to generate then transform meaning in thoseexamples implies a kind of cultural propaganda war. All ofhistory is supposedly the history of secret societies, but if"history is the meaning weve imparted to it, then historyis necessarily the history of conflict between world views -of cultural memory applied to geography. Within eachworld view there then must be that which is held apartfrom common life, be it festival, religion, or monthly partymeetings - on the corporate level these are the employeemeetings and holiday office parties - and the keeper of thecalendar is the mage of that society (just as the keeper ofthe colander is the cook.)Still, ancient mans sigilic understanding of the heavens islittle more than a confluence of environmental factors andpsychological ones. The real exploration took place not inthe abstract but in the day to day lifestyle of the averageastrologer... "What comes next? Why is it that every 88 203

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days that traveling light returns to that part of the sky?What does it mean?"What does it mean? That was the question put to thelearned, the mages... these fellows who extrapolatemeaning have crafted entire cultures for their variousbioregions. Of course, thinking globally, networkingglobally as magicians is an entirely new beast compared tothe ancient magics - Apuleius would lose his mind if facedwith the basic accouterments of the technopagan. Thoseraised in dark cold regions of the earth devise maddeninglyharsh cosmologies of fire and ice around their calendarand against that framework they construct their ritualsequences.Islanders in the south pacific, or Aztec priests, or Persianmagi would be hard pressed to apply Norse runic magic totheir own daily practice (except that it somehow facilitatedimagination.) It isnt part of their world view, and itdoesnt apply to daily life. Yet all will find reflection in theconcepts bound to the moon, for example... or thesignificance of death, or the concepts of storm, or disease -these physicalities spawn abstractions that can berecognized, their significance transcending the physicalform of the abstraction. 204

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But that doesnt fulfill the social duty of the mage, becausethe relayed wisdom must be put into a context - for at leasta while the social group must rise into the same area ofthought in which the mage engages abstractions... theremust be a key to unlock the verbal transmissions into aninternal understanding - the symbolic seed must flower.Ecstatic states of awareness, the Dionysian spirit presentin all who tripped on the kykeon, provided a glimpse intothe arena in which meaning fought meaning - where ideasbreed, battle, and consume, and it is the same place CarlJung termed the collective unconscious. The closest (if afew years of mucking about with specific agents against3000 years of precisely synergized compounds can becalled close) this culture has come to the Eleusian MysteryRites was at the hands of the Merry Pranksters, and thereverberations of that carried everyone involved into newmythic resonances within worldwide culture.But how do you illustrate the effective way to be mosteffective, most effectively? The mind learns throughseveral ways, and different people acquire knowledge andwisdom through their unique methods and circumstance,or mind set and environment, to riff off Dr. LearysHarvard research. To incorporate new experience, thebrain shuffles its symbols to incorporate the knowledge -knowledge is stored information, or memory. The art ofknowing is the art of memory, ala the Dominicans most 205

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heretical student, Giordano Bruno. To really understandsomething though, most people need an experience uponwhich to base their understanding - a substrate for theirfoundations of belief. Magic doesnt just happen it issculpted into being with will and ingenuity and chastity ofpurpose.Magic is willed transformation. Thats a prettystraightforward concept. A lot of contemporary magiciansare overly involved with manifest evolution, andthroughout history evolving consciousness and breakingthe barrier between the ego and the self has been the focusof mystery schools and magicians. Theres the trickalluded to in Ridley Scotts Legend, of light in extensionrevealing the Id at play, the shadow of the self driven toconflict, the death instinct bound in our fore-shortenedtelomeres. The very essence of our psyche is biological, forwe are still fleshy beings, ridden by the passage of timeblipping along. (Thats the real essence of astrology, thattime blips past.) But thats kind of short-sighted depth-psychology and doesnt illustrate (until directlyexperienced) any kind of magical action, even though lightin extension is the initiation in its most literal sense.To return again to magic then - what do I mean by thephysical form of an abstraction? And how does the 206

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physical form of an abstraction effect the abstraction off inits perfect world of forms?Meaning is created through attention. To return again tomagic then - what is the physical form of an abstraction,and what is the relationship between the abstraction andthe physical form?Sigilization101 is the seed of the energy for theaforementioned physicality of abstraction, and as suchplays a profound role in creating conduits between theinner world of the mage and the external world of allthings. Sigils refract vibrations between the mage utilizingthe sigil and the shadow time from which the sigil residesin meaning, as if it were a soul submerged in a fluid ofintellect.To concretize: let us say you wish to create a bind runefrom runic letters to act as a focus, for the conscious mind,that change may occur in the phenomenal world. Perhaps,like so many others, you seek wealth, and ascertain thatcombining lagu, ansuz, and gyfu should produce a runicform conducive to drawing energy related to wealth into101 In “On Structural Sigilisation”(http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/chaos/texts/ssigil.html) Simon Fabolous by way ofM.K. gives us the formula "THE MOMENT OF INTENSIVE THOUGHT BURNSHOLES IN THE FABRIC OF REALITY." Id say ‘holes’ is a touch understated, that inactuality this intensive thought creates discrete wholes. That moment of intensive thoughtis attention apprehending an abstract whole. - Wes 207

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your psyche as seed, and thus into the time line of yoursphere of interaction within the phenomenal world. Theconstruction of the runic form occurs in your real time,and also occurs continuously in shadow time.Mathematics, or the combination of symbolic forms,doesnt require a real space in which to occur except in thatit provides a way for mind to understand the mechanics ofthe symbolic sets; a place only as real as it needs to be inorder to convey meaning.The creative element of combining and manipulating thelatent symbols into an overall seed glyph occurs both here& in that otherwhen. The unique form of the glyph is theseed, the potential - it is not an individuated energy formas yet. The first logogram designed is just barely a sigil, onecould think of it as a solitary seed for a plant never beforegrown, an unique crucifixion of potentials, poised betweenthe entity it will come to represent in the abstract world,the place it has come from (within the mind of thedesigner) the time it was made (each moment or blip adiscrete whole in a series of wholes) and the purpose orintent invested in its symbolic structure. From the threadsof these four energies a knot is tied on the altar of themages consciousness. This 5th energy, this secret knotnow tied, is the true sigil - it is an intersection of the glyph,the time of the glyphs making, the energy behind theglyph, and the intent in which the glyph was formed. 208

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Symbols are a prime tool of magic, because to willsuccessfully one must be conscious of ones intention, andsymbols thus become touchstones for the mind as itnavigates the abstractions of shadow time. This mentalmanipulation of symbols takes place concurrently withinshadow time and real time, mind being the gate betweenthe two, as an archway between 2 courtyards. Themanipulation of symbols then takes place both within themind of the magician, as well as within the time stream ofthe physical and the shadow time wherein abstractionschange. Thus, to construct a ritual in physicality is thesame as constructing one within ones conscious awareness- and creating symbols acts to prepare the mind for the useof those symbols. Your consciousness is the altar of thetemple of yourself, and you have to figure out whatsymbolic forms hold meaning for you within that templestructure. 209

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II.Traffic DragonWhile I don’t necessarily fall under the aegis of the termpantheist I do tend to see life or intelligence at play all overthe place. I tend to posit a kind of emergent intelligence insystems of sufficient complexity. The city itself is certainlycomplex enough for emergent properties to take on asemblance of intelligence. Additionally traffic takes on thiskind of complexity. The different kinds of interactingcomponents in the system of traffic includes cars, theroads, traffic lights, the weather conditions, pedestrianscrossing streets, and so forth. Traffic is a system thatcommunicates in terms of speeds and timing. Clearly ifTraffic has awareness it does not think in human terms.Delays can propagate very quickly through the system. Aseach car slows earlier in sequence than the one in front ofit the car at the end of a line must brake quickest and goslowest. If any car brakes later in sequence than the one in 210

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front of it, it crashes into it. This slow down tends to bemore total. Groups of cars will also tend to clump andgroup as close together as possible while avoiding impactsand then a gap and another clump.Reading the traffic system is largely going to be about thebehaviour of cars. Looking at the speed they are traveling,looking at the relative density and clumpiness of the trafficflow. Most lights are relatively fixed features ignoring thepedestrian controlled crossing. To start working withTraffic you start by watching it. Find a place where twobusy streets interact or maybe where the regular roadsystem meets the highways. Watch it. Watch it at varioustimes of day so that you see varying repeated patterns.Learn to feel the difference between rush hour, weekdays,weekends, and the middle of the night. Find other places towatch traffic from. Look for what stays the same whatchanges depending on changes in time or location. Whatyou are trying to do is internalize the language of thestreets. Don’t try to look for words, traffic may not bespeaking at that high of level of complexity. Try to learnhow to feel the MOOD of traffic. Not the mood of people intraffic but the mood of the beast itself.Once you feel like you can read the mood of traffic its timeto try to talk to it. In order to talk to it you need to placeyourself where you can have an effect on it and read the 211

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reaction. My suggestion is a pedestrian controlled trafficlight that changes rather quickly. The quicker it changesthe closer you can control the timing. As the effect of yourtriggering the crossing will create delays behind the carsthat stop for the light, you can watch for the changes whereyou are. I do suggest you cross the street if you used thesignal. It seems disrespectful to do otherwise and you don’twish to draw ire from people in the cars you have stopped.Try to vary the timing of your signaling.Spend all day there saying “Hi.” Look for patterns anddifferences in the effect or response to your signal.Another way to talk to traffic is to get in a car and enter thesystem. This allows for much richer signaling on your partthan the binary switch of the crosswalk. However thisplaces you as much more subject to the system of traffic. Ifyou have gotten the attention of the traffic 212

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dragon, if you have angered the beast this might be adangerous time for you. My suggestion is to drive aroundthe streets with no direction or schedule in mind. This willallow you to see a wider range of street conditions andfrankly if traffic has noticed you, getting to anywhere ontime may be difficult. During this time it might be a goodidea to use the car only for communicating with traffic anduse public transportation if you need to get anywhere.Up to this point we’ve been acting as if all cars are thesame. Common sense tells us of course that they are not.Emergency vehicles are an interesting special case, theyhave greater effect on traffic conditions than it generally 213

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has on them because the law legislates that other vehiclesmust get out of their way. However, the emergencyvehicles can be summoned by traffic when a vehicularcollision occurs. Another special case is that of publictransit vehicles. They have a set path through the networksof roads and should in general have a consistent effect onthe traffic around them and could operate as a systemclock to show how much the traffic is slowing down theirpredictable circuits.The traffic dragon has millions of little sense organs, theyare called drivers. The nervous system of car driversincludes the ability to recognize certain types of vehiclesand to discern colours. Try watching traffic for certaincolour or colour combinations. The more you watch trafficthe more you will see intelligent acts of sortilege; creationsof patterns that you can read and interpret.The purpose of the foregoing work was to build up anadequate model of traffic behaviour in your brain. Onceyou have done this there are many other ways to access thetraffic entity. An important step to take is to start acting orthinking about traffic as if it is a person or person like. Thereason for this is we have much more brain circuitryavailable when we are thinking about people or people likethings than we do if we seem them as inanimate.Asperger’s Syndrome folk may find the other way around 214

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easier. For assistance for reading the mood of the roads, isto after looking at the conditions visualize the face andbody language the traffic dragon would be making. Ingeneral it will be easier to read the mood of thisvisualization than the streets themselves. If you have builtup an adequate model of traffic operations in your brain,you will find your traffic face to give you very usefulinformation. 215

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III.Memetics for the ArtistWe titled this book The Art of Memetics, and it seems onlyright to end on a way for artists to apply memetics in aconcrete way. If you are an artist, one of the mostimportant questions you’ll face is this: How do you goabout deciding where to promote your art? To begin, youmight want to now go online, and check into a fewdifferent social networks. Obviously the biggest has beenMyspace for some time, but other social networks alsoexist, each with their own benefits and flaws.I wouldnt tell you to go onto a social network and attemptto promote your work if I hadnt already seen the results itcan bring. Figure out what youre looking to promote, andwhat is it that helps you know whether you are beingsuccessful. 216

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Artists have different motivations. You might be seekingsimply to spread your work, be it traditional painting,music, photography, sculpture, or video work. Obviouslydifferent social networks can handle different media, somemore effectively than others. If youve got a huge stockpileof homemade video, getting a youtube account, a googlevideo account, perhaps a metacafe account and a lulu.tvaccount makes more sense than getting a flickr account.On the other hand, if you rely on photos of your work ordigital imagery in your art, then having a flickr account, apicasaweb account, and a deviantart account are veryimportant.You dont have to rely on these types of sites if you haveyour own server space or web site where youve showcasedyour work, yet you should still consider using them as theyallow you to tap into an already existing network, whileyour personal web site relies on search engine traffic andyour own marketing efforts to bring in site traffic.Why is it that some artists break through into the art worldand others are left trying to get by without any notice? Ifyouve read the book up through until now, you probablycan intuit the answer. Its due to public awareness,awareness within the right networks, the networks that arealready enabled to support an artist, whatever theirmedium. 217

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I dont know if youve read the full book, but even if youvejust skimmed it and are reading the appendix, or ifsomeones marked out these passages for you to glance at,I can still help you take your work and put it in the rightplace to generate more interest.Would you like to see your paintings hanging in a gallery,get your films shown to a vast number of people, or hearyour music on the local stations? Perhaps you want to beable to get your crafts into auction sites online, or you wantto see how it feels to have people around the worldexperience a sculpture youve made, or a story youvewritten.Some people hang onto this desire without acting upon it,precisely because theyre uncertain of how to begin. If youcould have hundreds or thousands of people engaging withyour work, experiencing your art, why would you letuncertainty be a barrier? If you would choose to spendyour time researching a few options, within a couple ofweeks youd have found the right social networks online tostart growing awareness of your creative talents.Have you ever seen go2web20.net? Its a directory of Web2.0, and details hundreds of social widgets and networks of 218

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various sizes that can rapidly change your understandingof how useful the web is becoming. With just a few hoursof seeking through what is available there, you will quicklyfind interesting tools and social spaces in which to developyour own presence online.Would you be surprised if I told you that I helped a bandget free studio time and an album deal simply because theywere able to gather a couple of thousand friends onMyspace with no advertising costs, just smart networkingtechniques, or that I helped another friend landconsistently high-profile interviews through negotiatingsocial networks? Imagine what would happen if you tookwhat you learned in this book and applied it to an onlineenvironment, a site like Orkut, Bebo, Facebook, Tribe orMyspace.Are you interested in growing your acting talents, andseeking a career in film? Check out Yippie, and finddirectors, film makers, and screenwriters all workingcollaboratively to create new media. What would it be likeif you had an easy interface to instantly put prints of yourwork up for sale, with no overhead costs? You can find outby signing up at DeviantArt. 219

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You may not know that its become so simple to publish ondemand via Lulu or Cafepress, or that you can start yourown auction site and start taking orders right now forhandcrafted goods using Etsy and Paypal. Im wonderingif youve tried developing an online presence yet, or if youfigured being on one social network was enough, just tostay in touch with friends.Dont think that you can jump online and immediatelystart spreading your memes, finding buyers for your art, orland a record deal. It takes a plan, understanding thatdifferent social networks respond to different media, andfinding out where you have the best chance of finding like-minded users who can help you achieve your full potential.Dont you feel better, knowing that your artistic andcreative energy can affect the lives of others, that you cantake control of the media you create and place it whereothers can appreciate it? Can I show you a few URLs toget you started?Social Network Checklist for Artists:Myspace.comMyspace is one of the most well-known websites online,and has a network spanning millions of individuals. Entire 220

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books have been written about Myspace, as an artist youmight want to familiarize yourself with what it has to offer.In particular you should look for groups that are specific toyour medium. Here are a few general groups for artists tostart you off: Art for Artists™ - http://groups.myspace.com/artforartists The New Creative Outreach Group: A True Artist Group - http://groups.myspace.com/CreativeOutreachThe ArtistGroup Killer Art !!!! - http://groups.myspace.com/KillerArt Artists Salon - http://groups.myspace.com/ArtistsSalon Midwest Creatives - http://groups.myspace.com/creativemidwest Art - http://groups.myspace.com/ArtUnion 221

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Myartspace Artists on Myspace - http://groups.myspace.com/MyartspaceArtistsTribe.netTribe is one of the first rounds of social networks, alongwith Friendster and Orkut, and as such has a solidfollowing that has been using Tribe for years. They havethe largest Burning Man social group online, and thegroups connected to Burning Man are almost toonumerous to count. Here are a few groups to startchecking out: Burning Man - http://bm.tribe.net/ Art Whore SF - http://artwhoresf.tribe.net/ Visual Artists - http://visual-art.tribe.net/ +ALL+ART+GALLERY+ - http://allart.tribe.net/ 222

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Burning Man Art - http://bmart.tribe.net Art//Life - http://tribes.tribe.net/artlifeOrkut.comOrkut is Googles social network, and while it hasntachieved the popularity of Myspace or Facebook within thestates, it boasts millions of users around the world. Hereare a few of the communities on Orkut that you might wantto look into: Painting and Art in General - http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=17 368 Advertising as Art - http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=61 3729 OIL PAINTING ARTIST CLUB on Orkut - http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=7 0039 223

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I Luv OIL PAINTING - http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=4 375Groups.Yahoo.ComYahoo has been around for years, and millions of peopleregularly use Yahoo Groups as a way to connect withothers on every imaginable topic. Because the specific urlsfor these groups are so long, it would be easier simply tolist the titles so you can search for them once youve signedinto Yahoo. Here are a few of the groups to search for toget started: ArtAnonymous artezinecafe arttechniques AssemblageArtists AwesomeArtists Collage Digital-fineartFlickr.com 224

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Speaking of Yahoo, for the visual artist Flickr is one of thetwo social networks that is an absolute must. Not onlydoes Flickr allow you a site with which to easily store yourimages online, it also has a very robust system in place forjoining and sharing images with others. Again, becausethe specific urls for these groups are so long, it would beeasier simply to list the titles so you can search for themonce youve signed into Flickr. Here are a few of thegroups on Flickr that might be of interest: Black and White Art and Artists Artists And Their Art Paintings from you... THE ARTIST Artists Without Borders Collage Crazy Internet artists galleryPicasaweb.Google.comPicasaweb integrates with the Picasa software that Googlefreely provides, and it can also function as an onlinearchive of your digital images. If you use Blogger, youllfind that you already have a Picasaweb folder as itsintegrated with Blogger. It also integrates nicely withOrkut, and you can even create slide shows and embedthose slide shows on other social sites. While it isnt a 225

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go2web20.net These sites are by no means a conclusive list of whatsavailable, and the landscape of the internet is constantlyevolving. Staying on top of the ever-shifting possibilities ofthe net is in itself a full-time job, and we recommendwatching these sites for clues on what might becomeavailable in the future, and mind the drek wars. 227

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Afterword: Artists StatementIn early 2000, Wes and Ed made a connection with each other on aninternet forum site. Little did they know they would be workingtogether on a project. Hell they probably didnt even think much aboutgroup minds. Late summer of 2005 I met up with Wes. I washallucinating and working on oil paintings. Needless to say I re-introduced Wes to his more artistic side with a sketch book. Wesintroduced me to the Internet; it was a fair trade off. Also that summerI went on to meet Ed on Fequency23. All three of us weremasterminding projects before we even knew what mastermindingwas. We tossed ideas off each others noggins, worked on sarcasticposts and made brilliant podcasts. This book was our completemastermind session, and in it is laid out our interpretation ofmasterminding. In 2007 Ed and Wes would meet up to start writingthe very book you are reading now. Those two would handle thewriting chores while I handled the visual chores. I started working upnew ideas about group minds for a painting. This would be my versionof this book without all of the text. It became many pieces of facesmerging together, like a collective consciousness, and is the cover artfor the book youre now checking out. Ray Carney Wichita, Kansas March, 2008 229

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About The Authors:Edward Wilson:Edward Wilson is a freelance writer living in Vancouver, Canada;Portland, Oregon and Cyberspace. If not found writing in one ofVancouvers coffee shops, Edward is likely drinking in one of PortlandsBars. Edward, known online as Fenris23, specializes in rediscoveringmagical techniques in the fields of psychology and sociology. His nextproject will be space/time/punctuation, an exploration of the experienceof space and time.Wes Unruh:Wes Unruh lives in upstate New York with his wife, his cat, and the cat’syellow ball of yarn. He is the editor of the blog at Alterati.com, andwebmaster of the art collective Aelturnity.com. At the time of thisbook’s publication he is at work on a novel, Memwar. 238

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PS– you’ll have to buy the book.: its easier to read in the bath tub. 239